Those who will die for their AR-15, but never their neighbor

I'm in a large Facebook group dedicated to setting up 2nd Amendment counties and cities. The philosophical idea is that local "lesser magistrates" have a right and duty to defy federal and state-level regulations that defy fundamental principles of liberty and freedom. Amen. These kinds of attitudes centering around Higher Law and legal interposition are becoming increasingly crucial in states like Virginian since the state went blue and our new Democrat governor has vowed to make Virginia a "red flag" state.

I fully agree that defying this sort of tyranny is not only a right but a duty for civil officials and Christians. Further, men from my local church are leading in initiatives to protect these rights calling on our local county board of supervisors, sheriff and commonwealth attorney to act in defiance of tyranny. This understanding of law and liberty is a vital pillar of any society that desires to honor God and preserve freedom.

Yesterday, I was in the aforementioned 2nd Amendment Sanctuary group and I saw that someone had posted a xenophobic link blaming the shrinking of our rights on immigrants. I commented on how we are called to love immigrants, and if the Republican Party wants to earn immigrants' support, then a lot of things need to change. What followed should be a shocking display of ignorant hypocrisy, but unfortunately, it was not surprising in the least.

In a group dedicated explicitly to defying state and federal laws and regulations, by far the most common response to my "love immigrants" comment centered around how so-called "illegal" immigrants should follow the law. To give credit where credit is due, a small handful of commenters attempted to make moral and economic arguments opposed to immigration. However, the vast majority only and ironically appealed to the authority of federal law. Any possible option to defy federal law was gone and replaced with a cowed attitude of subservience. Many put on a show of caring for immigrants, to only demand that they "go through the process." Others suggested that the only righteous response to "illegal aliens" was swift and violent action by local and federal law enforcement. After all, they're criminals according to federal and state laws.

There was also the standard dehumanizing language. When I suggested that many immigrants had reason to vote Democrat due to the rhetoric and economic policies coming from the White House, an older white male with a Confederate General for his profile picture was kind enough to educate me that immigrants making decisions based off of incentives and policies was impossible because immigrants aren't rational. Apparently, immigrants vote Democrat simply because they're evil and stupid. Thanks, Stonewall. The typical language of "vermin, freeloaders, scum, criminals, thugs, invaders" and much more were soon to follow.

Though the dehumanizing is, frankly, disgusting and contrary to the Spirit of God, the blatant hypocrisy of the "just follow the law" crowd was staggering. This group is advocating for the direct defiance of laws, while many others regularly comment that they will break state gun control laws on an individual level.

Tragically, this sort of double-minded statism is not new. While movements are speedily forming to create more and more sanctuary cities and counties for our AR-15s, the same conservatives are the first people to tell you that we need to obey the Supreme Court when the topic changes to the preborn. Petitions to protect our high-capacity magazines and sporting rifles quickly get tens of thousands of signatures, most conservative leaders shrug off calls to set up sanctuary cities for human beings as if defying injustice is some incredible novelty.

Conservative political, media, and religious leaders are fully aware of the sanctuary city/county/state concept and many support this principled view when it comes to firearms. They are very much aware that defiance is an option, so when the topic changes from rifles and magazines to unborn humans, it is not an issue of education. They cannot tell their sheriffs to ignore State law on Monday to then conveniently forget about the sanctuary concept on Tuesday. We have ourselves a priority problem.

I'm in this 2nd Amendment Sanctuary County group because it is a position I believe in. I am not denigrating their efforts and Lamb's Reign editors are planning on writing on the gun control issue more in the future. But what I am suggesting is that far too many conservatives are quicker to defend their firearms than other Image Bearers of God. I have seen hundreds of comments from 2nd Amendment folks telling their friends they would die for their AR-15, while they think a man leaving water in a desert for immigrants is aiding "criminality." And then when abolitionists advocate for a preborn sanctuary for the preborn, we are told that the Supreme Court has already spoken. Do you see the problem, Christian? We are fearless, or at least we like to appear fearless, when the topic directly affects our rights, but when life and liberty are at stake for others, we either fold and appeal to the laws of man, or we view our rights and freedoms as more valuable than "undeserving" non-Americans.

I understand that some will attempt moral, theological, and economic arguments opposed to the abolition of abortion and abolition of oppressive border control (addressed elsewhere). Still, when so much of the cases hinge on a hollow appeal to authority or demonizing hatred, I believe the answer must begin with love and consistent integrity. Abortion, border control, and gun control all flow from the same root of statist sacrificing of life and liberty on the altar of selfish (and false) feelings of security and entitlement. By all means, give me that AR-15, but let us love our preborn neighbors and let us love our sojourner neighbors first and foremost.