[iamhistory]

As you know, we had Ash Wednesday services yesterday and are now in the 40 day season of Lent.

My wife and kids talked about what we would give up for lent as our sacrifice and that got me thinking.........would I (or any of you of course) give up guns and/or shooting over Lent since you are supposed to make a sacrifice of something that would be tough for you to go without for those 40 days?

That would be tough for me to do, but of course due to safety concerns I would not be able to give up guns/shooting for Lent in good faith. Besides that........temptation would literally be all around me and even though I'm a strong person, I think I would end up faltering if that was my Lenten sacrifice.

[Billy the Kid]

you could give up shooting, and still carry.

[carebear]

Ever looked into becoming a Jesuit Billy? :evil:

[JohnBT]

It would be difficult, but I suppose I could give up cleaning guns. ;)

John

[Ribbler]

It would be difficult, but I suppose I could give up cleaning guns.

Yes, it would be tough to make such a sacrifice. I'm even of a different faith but perhaps I should give it a try!

[Vern Humphrey]

Okay, I'll give up .357s for Lent, and stick with my .45 for carry purposes, and .22s for plinking. :p

[Boats]

I gave up religion. Been going on a lot longer than 40 days though. :cool:

[Chipperman]

I'm with you Boats.

[bean357]

40 days without shooting. Hmmm. I don't see that happening... for me, anyway. Another check mark for Boats!

[Malice]

Um, I think you guys miss the point of lent.

I am certainly not a CHristian of any sort, but I don't think you are supposed to give up somthing you *enjoy* for lent.

When people tell me they are giving up soda or hamburgers or somthing, in order to symbolize the supreme sacrafice of their lord and saviour, I laugh at them.

"You are honoring Christ by going on a diet and trimming down your figure?"

I think the idea is to give up somthing that would benifit the lives of those around you.

Go without soda, but make sure to donate the money you would have spent on it to a charity. Or better yet, give up driving and donate THAT money. Jesus walked everywhere afterall. Doesnt need to be a donation. If you are an alcoholic or a smoker with concerned family members, give that up. YOu get the idea.

A lot of times I think to myself, "Well, at least they are well-intnetioned," but then sometimes I think you forget what the intnention is, too.

P.S.
Giving up shooting is way to big a sacrafice :neener:

[MobileSuitPilotX]

Me too. Mwahahahahahaha! :evil:

[MoNsTeR]

Isn't the idea to give up bad habits? Keep the guns, give up fast food or light beer ;)

[stevelyn]

...............give up fast or light beer.

Well if ya have to make the sacrifice give up the regular beer and keep the light beer. Giving up regular beer is afterall a sacrifice.

[Onmilo]

I could give up buying factory ammunition as long as I can reload :)

[Standing Wolf]

Ahhhhhhhhhhh! The joy of being an atheist!

[jdomin]

great idea,now if you come across any deals on n frames tell me,I'll buy em . i have given up watermelon for lent.(Old Catholic joke)

[Preacherman]

Since we're on the subject of Lent, and beer has been mentioned, perhaps I should tell you about Paddy and the three beers...

Paddy moved to a small village outside Dublin, and on his first night in his new home, he went down to the local pub, where he ordered three beers. The bartender, thinking he had friends about to join him, duly placed three beers in front of him: but Paddy drank all three, one after another, and went home happy.

The same thing happened the next night, to the bartender's puzzlement. When Paddy came in on the third night and placed the same order, the bartender asked him: "Please to be excusin' my curiosity, but why do yez order three beers at one time? Would it not be simpler to order one beer, three times?"

Paddy replied "Well, ye see, Oi've got two brothers. One's in Australia, the other's in America. Before we parted, me mum made us promise that whenever we had a beer, we'd have one for each of our brothers as well: so that's why Oi order three at a time."

The bartender thought this was a charmingly Irish way to solve the problem, and spread the word around the village, where everyone approved of Paddy's family consciousness and sense of duty.

Things went on in this way for some months, until one night, Paddy came into the pub and ordered only two beers. The bartender instantly thought "Oh, begorrah... one of his brothers must have died!" Silently, he served Paddy his two beers, and hastened to spread the word of the tragedy. By next day, half the village was saying Rosaries for the dear departed.

When Paddy came in the next night, and again ordered two beers, the bartender said "Paddy, folks around here - me most of all - want yez to know how sorry we are about your brother. You know - the two beers and all..."

Paddy reflected for a moment, and replied "Well, Oi can see as how yez'd think that - the two beers and all - but ye'll be pleased to know that me two brothers is just fine. It's just that me, myself, Oi've given up drinking for Lent!"

:D

[c_yeager]

I am certainly not a CHristian of any sort, but I don't think you are supposed to give up somthing you *enjoy* for lent.

Actually that is the entire point of the sacrifice. Jesus sacrificed his very life and the personally sacrifice made during lent is to commemrate that by enduring a loss of your own. Now, a sacrifice that is not only dificult for you but, aslo benefits others is probably BETTER but, the meaning of the sacrifice is just that, sacrifice. In this case the best thing to do would be to give up shooting for the duration of lent and to then donate the money that you would have spent to those who need it. This way one avoids possibly benefiting from the sacrifice (by saving money) and they do some good works which is also a part of lent (but also a part of the rest of the year too).

I am also bothered by people that sacrifice things like junk food because they want to lose weight. Doing something selfish for lent is about the worse thing you can possibly do.

To my mind the best possible sacrifice for Lent is the sacrifice of time. Time is an invaluable commodity and giving up your leisure time to help others is probably the best thing a person can do, and is an extraordinary sacrifice in our busy society.

[mhdishere]

I'll offer my (Anglican) understanding of Lent. First, it's not about giving up "bad habits", those can/should be given up any time (particularly if they're sinful habits). My understanding is that the sacrifice serves a twofold purpose, one it commemorates Jesus' Sacrifice on the Cross, and second it strengthens me as a Christian. Let's take the example in the original post of giving up shooting for Lent. You'll be tempted to go shooting, and at some point you may even throw up your hands and GO shooting. While you've broken your Lenten discipline you haven't sinned (assuming of course that your target is an appropriate one). But, your practice of self-denial of something non-sinful that you enjoy makes you stronger to resist temptations that ARE sinful. When Easter arrives you'll find yourself a stronger Christian.

[WhoKnowsWho]

I'm with you Boats.

Me too.

When I was young, I never understood why my mom made sure I didn't eat meat on Fridays of certain months... and boy was she mad when I did.

[mec]

Give up pleasure shooting but keep on carrying. Shooting is fun. Carrying is not particularly fun and besides Its Biblical. " When a Strong man armed keepeth his house, His goods are at peace." - Or something like that. I got it from a preacher so, it must be a good quote.

[Mikul]

When I was 14 my parents asked what I was giving up for lent. Being the smart-alec that I am, I said, "sex." There was a long pause of shocked silence.

Other popular lent sacrifices include:
-eating the hearts of my enemies
-animal experimentation
-satanic worship
-fish (that would cause problems on Friday dinners)
-putting laxatives in the office sugar bowl
-blinking
-Pointless diatribes (Are you ignoring me? No, I just gave up listening to pointless diatribes for lent)
-co-rrect pronun-ciation
-owning slaves

[Timmit]

I gave up self denial for Lent. ;)

[carebear]

Mikul,

You were a terrible burden on your momma weren't you?

That's funny stuff. :evil:

[mbs357]

Give up something to benefit others? In my opinion, not shooting and getting rusty will not benefit yourself or your family. Not carrying your weapon definatly won't benefit.

[Sistema1927]

Reminds me of a conversation that I had with a Roman Catholic co-worker many years ago:

HE: I am giving up chewing gum and flying kites for Lent.
ME: I don't think that I have ever seen you chew gum.
HE: I don't fly kites either.

This non-liturgical Christian has a problem with the whole idea of Lent anyway. The whole concept of Mardi Gras, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, etc. seems to make a mockery of the practice, not to mention the fact that I can't think of any personal sacrifice that comes close to matching the sacrifice of Christ.

[hillbilly]

I think you should completely and totally give up guns for Lent.

And I'm willing to make the sacrifice of looking after during that time.

All you have to do is box them and ship them to me.

I'll even pay for all the shipping and handling!

hillbilly

[Big_R]

I gave up 9mm's one year....and I'm not even Catholic.

Ryan

[71Commander]

I think that the Pagen's should reclaim their holidays and then no one would have to give up anything for Lent. :evil: ;)

[carebear]

Reclaim 'em? They had their shot and couldn't hold onto 'em the first time, even with superior numbers and territory.

What you can hold you keep. :evil:

[MAURICE]

Mikul, I often do the same thing. Last year I gave up crack. This year I wont be shooting up on heroin. ;)

Actually, I havent decided on what to give up. I have not been shooting since Ash Wed, so maybe that could be it.

I did accidentally eat meat today for lunch and didnt even realize it was Friday until a few hours ago (Mondays and Tuesdays are my days off, sometimes it confuses me).

[dustind]

I hope you still carry, even if you give up shooting for pleasure.

Since everyone else mentioned it, I am also an athiest.

[c_yeager]

This non-liturgical Christian has a problem with the whole idea of Lent anyway. The whole concept of Mardi Gras, Carnival, Fat Tuesday, etc. seems to make a mockery of the practice, not to mention the fact that I can't think of any personal sacrifice that comes close to matching the sacrifice of Christ.

They are a mockery of the practice and I think you will find that the vast majority of practicing Catholics would agree. And the intention isnt to come close to MATCHING the sacrifice of Christ. The intention is to serve simply as a daily (if not constant) reminder of that sacrifice.

[peacefuljeffrey]

Ugh.

I'll try to not get offensive, 'cause I like the people here, but ... I just find the idea of Lent, and religion, and God, abhorrent. These are my personal feelings. Of course, anyone is free to have personal feelings that run counter to mine.

NO, I would never give up guns for Lent. That strikes me as similar to giving up fire extinguishers. I have guns for reasons that go beyond the fun of target shooting -- and I don't hunt or compete. So that leaves "defense" and I see no reason to go without guns for defense just to prove some petty thing to a God I don't believe in or respect.

But anyone who does... go right ahead. I just hope those 40 days don't find you in need of your gun.

-Jeffrey