Originally published on this website July 21, 2000
The following editorial reply was printed in the July 21 edition of The
Tidings, Southern California's Catholic Weekly. Thanks to Angel Shamaya and his
most excellent resource, http://www.KeepAndBearArms.com/
for bringing the
referenced Papal Encyclical
Letter to widespread attention. --D.C.
Dear Mr. Tamberg,
Rev. Ron Rolheiser ("Giving Up Your Gun"- July 14) makes it
abundantly clear that he would rather see a man beaten by "drunken, racist
bullies" than defended by an armed citizen. Following his logic, one may
extrapolate that he extends this same preference to women being raped and
murdered.
The naivete of thinking that God will always intervene to protect those who
are "mature in faith" is sheer nonsense, and likely to get anyone
following Rev. Rolheiser's immature and poorly constructed arguments killed. If
this were so, the Church would have no martyrs. Likewise, the Vatican would have
no need to arm its Swiss Guard.
They do, because, as Pope John Paul II instructed us in his 1995 Encyclical
Letter, EVANGELIUM VITAE , "legitimate defence can be not only a right but
a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life, the common good of the
family or of the State. Unfortunately it happens that the need to render the
aggressor incapable of causing harm sometimes involves taking his life. In this
case, the fatal outcome is attributable to the aggressor whose action brought it
about..."
Sincerely,
David Codrea
http://www.guntruths.com/
http://www.citizensofamerica.org/
