Nope, it's not the building, it's the activities you do there. Carrying a gun - unnecessarily, therefore making everyone around you statistically less safe - is not appropriate during worship. Anything that you are doing during worship that makes people around you less safe is inappropriate.

Which part exactly? Much of my post quoted your phrases exactly. And you have posted at least once about the problem only being solved with the return of Jesus. I hear everything that you are saying. I would say you can't hear yourself. I am not a stranger to your POV, I used to hold it right down to the denial of what I was saying.

Yet nobody will explain why this isn't the case in the rest of the world. Why are we different in a way that would cause this divide?

She is welcome to tell me that my assessment was wrong. Based on her prior posts, it isn't.

She is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong but she hasn't. Based on prior conversations she has had here, this is a correct assessment. Her post didn't read like theology, it read like political talking points. It was disgusting.

I'm not addressing the inaccuracies in this post, someone already has. But this idea that he misrepresented who he was - by checking the wrong box or something - and that's why he was able to get a gun. If we were counting on people being honest, we would have no need for background checks, would we? I mean this idea that our system is based on honest self-reporting and we actually expect that do be worth something? What the hell?

Then what accounts for the difference in gun-related deaths and injuries in the US & the rest of the world? More criminals? More hatred? More immorality? More.....?

Because "a third pound" actually means something else.

I have never seen people carrying their own crosses into church - that would be a little crowded. Small, symbolic ones that people wear around their neck aren't exactly the same thing. I am not bothered by people wearing gun charms on a necklace although it would be a bit weird. Christ wasn't shot to death, he was crucified. The primary use of fire and hands is not death.

Bringing weapons of war (which is what guns are, regardless of what other activities they are used for by peaceful people) into a place where you worship the Prince of Peace is very clearly not appropriate, to me. YMMV.

For you and others who believe this narrative: this is what Alex Jones is saying. You know, the guy who says Sandy Hook didn't happen, that "globalists" want to eliminate 80% of the population then live forever through technology, that Obama is the head of Al-Qaeda, and that the government is making children gay through juice boxes. Among other things.

Because I can't reconcile that with my faith in a loving God. I keep trying to type more but it just sounds so silly. Really - this is a question? You think guns belong in church?

I have no idea what this has to do with the number of mass shootings, the number of people killed in the US by guns every year when this doesn't happen elsewhere. What - in your opinion - makes that so? I believe that you believe what you say you believe and yup - I have an opinion about that. You are also free to believe whatever nasty things about me that you want. Like wanting to prevent people from being shot in church is gross.

Wow - lots of code words in there. I hear you, loud and clear. You can't bother with saving lives from gun violence because Americans are going down the path of immorality. Gay marriage and abortion are the big ones, but also because of "Happy Holidays", Grey's Anatomy & Game of Thrones. A pastor clued me in to those evils. True story. All proof that we are "a people bent toward immorality as a group". So we all suffer until Jesus comes. But at least we have our guns.

As if the situation - that 26 people (men, women, children) were shot at their house of worship - could possibly be made more gross... but by people desiring to make this never happen again? I'll take that kind of gross any day.

Hell to the NO.

The bold: Totally. What a mind-fuck for a kid. Here's to the generations to come that think this is normal - Cheers! Side-note: I would never in a million, trillion, bazillion years attend a church with armed guards, patrols, or CC attenders that I was aware of. I'll pray, worship, and fellowship elsewhere, thankyouverymuch.

Are Americans so much more hateful than citizens of other countries? Do we have so much more intense rage and hatred in our hearts than others? If so, why? Why does mental illness in citizens of other countries not cause mass shootings like it seems to here? Do other countries not have the number of psychopaths that we have here in the US? If so, why?

Absolutely. Because you haven't been very kind to yourself either, it sounds like. It will be hard to stand up for yourself if you aren't used to it. Especially growing up in a patriarchal family, it will feel like you're doing something wrong. I'm worried that you aren't sure you deserve it so you'll cave in. So at this point, it doesn't matter the technique if you aren't convinced, yourself, that you deserve better treatment.

You need to stop this thinking. You are not to blame for people treating you rudely. He knows it's wrong. He knows it hurts you. He knows it teaches your kids the wrong thing. It's on HIM that he continues anyway.

You *are* entitled to respect as a human being.

I understand your dilemma. You need to come up with a plan on how you will deal with this that may differ depending on who the offender is. For me, I do think it's important to recognize that children are sometimes not capable of handling their emotions and they need more training as opposed to just being shut down until they do better. I'm sure there are kids who can handle that, but mine can't. I think your DH is a different problem. He is old enough & should be mature enough to not be speaking to you disrespectfully. Does he realize how hypocritical it is to come down hard on your kids being rude but then do it himself? Nothing he says to them will be effective if he is modelling the opposite. Even if he didn't speak to you disrespectfully, his coming down hard on your kids will not work if you are not seen as the driver of the correction. The boundary needs to be erected by *you*, not DH. Otherwise they aren't respecting you, but respecting DH.

Right now, it's 36 & windy. T or T starts in almost 1 hour. Sunset is in 40 minutes.

I hate everything about Halloween except that my kids have fun. It's cold. It's dark. I'm tired. Nobody needs that much candy. If it were nice brisk autumn weather & still daylight, I'd love to be social with the neighbors and see all the costumes.

I didn't vote Columbus Day because I think we should change it - which some places have already - to Indigenous People's Day. Black Friday is such an ugly day and I do think it has become a holiday. That has to go. I dislike other holidays but none of them are disgusting like BF, so whatever floats your boat.