Faith, firearms and the gun control debate

StarTribune.com ^ | 2/13/13 | David Briggs

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

During the 1940s, "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" was a popular song of patriotism. Today's gun debate has stirred religious passions, too.

You can learn a few things about religion and politics listening to flea market dealers in Indiana.

For starters, sociologist Arthur Farnsley writes in his new book “Flea Market Jesus,” it is a political mistake of biblical proportions to write off all Christian fundamentalists as red-state, moral values Republicans.

In in-depth interviews, Farnsley found among this fiercely independent group on the fringes of evangelical Protestantism an adherence to rugged individualism and distrust of institutions that left them open to differing opinions as to whether there should be restrictions on abortion or same-sex marriage.

But there was one issue where their religious and social beliefs came together: Gun control.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Some interesting insights and statistics.

[muawiyah]

haven't read it ~ but will in a few moments. i've been working on my own thesis that the acolyte of the anti-christ currently sitting in the White House has chosen to kick the Catholics with the birth control and baby killing issue, and the Protestants with the gun control fanaticism.

That way he tackles the greatest number of religious people in the country at the same time ~

That, BTW, is what acolytes of the anti-christ do!

So, on to the article ~