Posing for Christmas cards with guns

By now you’ve probably seen the image of a Congressional candidate who sent out a Christmas card of his family in front of the tree and all holding a variety of weapons. The image has spawned a variety of responses. Other Members of Congress have done similar photos in support of the said candidate. Other folks have been creative and replaced the weapons with other items. One person replaced the weapons with books saying that they were arming their kids with knowledge.

I’m not a big fan of Christmas cards. We haven’t sent any out in years. We still receive some, but the numbers dwindle a bit more each year. More power to the folks who like to send them out — if sending Christmas cards helps you celebrate the Christmas spirit, then go for it, I’m happy to receive them. Just don’t expect me to send you one. I don’t send them because sending Christmas cards just feels like a lot of work. There is no joy in it for me. I’d rather have a conversation with someone, share a meal with someone, do just about anything else as opposed to send a card.

I tell you that in order to offer some context on what I’m about to say. I think the gun posing card, along with the responses, to be missing the point of Christmas. Such cards are nothing more than the continuation of using religious symbolism for an ongoing ideological war that never takes a break — even on holy days. How ironic that a card that celebrates Christmas — the coming of the Prince of Peace — would turn into something that overshadows Christ all together. The focus turned to…