"They took their oaths as a shield and thus turned from the way of God; so theirs shall be a humiliating punishment."
Quran 58:16
This passage, drawn from surah 58, al-Mujadilah, here rendered as "She Who Disputes," reminds me of one of my favorite proposals: that you should treat your faith as a guidepost and not a shield. I guess I'm thinking about this in the light of yet another mass murder here in the glorified shooting gallery that passes for a country, in this case the horrific events in Odessa, Texas. I found myself trolling a Texas representative on Twitter after he would never support any infringement upon his god given right to bear arms. While I don't know if I have many trigger issues, this defense of gun ownership is rapidly rising to the level of one. I found myself Tweeting in response: "I would not claim to be in on God's decision making process, but I'm pretty certain it didn't include assigning individuals the right to own assault rifles. This was a decision made by humans, and it can, and should, be amended by humans. #GunControl" Leaving beside my to be expected painfully left-wing call for greater gun control for the moment, what really bothered me was his reference to his God given right to bear arms. Seriously, WTF? Beyond the arrogance of thinking that you speak for God - and the extraordinary hypocrisy of using God to justify your politica (and doubtless NRA-funded financial) position - he's also clearly using his religion as a shield. We've so normalized this phrase that no one even flinches anymore when people say it.
Quran 58:16
This passage, drawn from surah 58, al-Mujadilah, here rendered as "She Who Disputes," reminds me of one of my favorite proposals: that you should treat your faith as a guidepost and not a shield. I guess I'm thinking about this in the light of yet another mass murder here in the glorified shooting gallery that passes for a country, in this case the horrific events in Odessa, Texas. I found myself trolling a Texas representative on Twitter after he would never support any infringement upon his god given right to bear arms. While I don't know if I have many trigger issues, this defense of gun ownership is rapidly rising to the level of one. I found myself Tweeting in response: "I would not claim to be in on God's decision making process, but I'm pretty certain it didn't include assigning individuals the right to own assault rifles. This was a decision made by humans, and it can, and should, be amended by humans. #GunControl" Leaving beside my to be expected painfully left-wing call for greater gun control for the moment, what really bothered me was his reference to his God given right to bear arms. Seriously, WTF? Beyond the arrogance of thinking that you speak for God - and the extraordinary hypocrisy of using God to justify your politica (and doubtless NRA-funded financial) position - he's also clearly using his religion as a shield. We've so normalized this phrase that no one even flinches anymore when people say it.
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