There are more references to how Christianity would not promote self defense in any form whatsoever. Luke 6:29 says “If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them”.

Matthew 5:39 says “But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

So essentially the Christian thing to do in any situation where violence is perpetrated against yourself is to allow it to happen. This is backed by Jesus’ own actions as well as “Gods word”. If you were getting raped and murdered even, the clear cut thing to do according to Christian theology is to let it happen, and maybe pray for your attacker or something good natured of that sort.

Matthew 6:20 after all says to “build your treasures in heaven”, and defending your life on earth wouldn’t seem to be conducive to that. 1Peter 5:10 says “And after you have suffered a little while, the God off all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1John 2:15-17 says “do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever.”

So it would seem with all these biblical references to not love the world, follow the life of Jesus, turn your cheek, take on suffering, build your treasures in heaven, and not take vengeance or self defense because “your time on this earth is short, compared to eternity in heaven”… and the only goal of life is to follow Jesus’ commands and words to do just that.

Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird” stated in court that “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand”. Which, as a Christian that would take some serious courage to not defend yourself but apparently that is exactly what you’re supposed to do. I would expect the non Christian would be more apt to utilize guns according to everything I have ever learned in my 20 years of studying Christian theology, yet the majority of Christians in the Untied States don’t bother with it. They ignore it, or are ignorant of the matter altogether. Perhaps they don’t have the courage to go without a gun, or the courage to not defend themselves, or the courage to turn their cheek. Perhaps they really value their life on this world more than their religion and God tells them they should. Perhaps they don’t really want to do what God says, they want to make their religion out to be what they want it to be, and somehow somewhere a majority of them turn Christianity into a religion that promotes gun use and self defense. How, I will never see it, because the Bible really teaches just the opposite. I didn’t understand the majority of Christians when I was a Christian but I do seem to understand it better as an agnostic atheist. I suspect even bringing it up to some Christians, about this Guns and God issue that I just brought up might bring on some form of cognitive dissonance and get angry at me, or whatever, but that’s not my intention. I guess in bringing it up my intention is to cause people to think… as well as to ask you what you think on the matter. That goes for every Christian who promotes guns and self defense.