Guns in churches arouse debate

NEW ORLEANS, June 21 (UPI) -- A Louisiana decision to allow parishioners to carry guns in church, meant to make services more secure, is not sitting well with church leaders, observers say.

The Louisiana Legislature, intending to give religious facilities "homegrown" security, approved a measure last week removing churches, synagogues and mosques from a list of public places where concealed weapons are forbidden, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Monday.

But local religious leaders have recoiled at the notion, the newspaper said.

Elder John Pierre of the Living Witness Church of God in Christ was asked if members of his congregation should arm themselves.

"Unequivocally, no," said Pierre, whose church operates in a gritty central city neighborhood ministering to addicts as well as local families.

"We've been here 29 years, and there's never been a time that a gun would have solved anything.'

Another church leader agreed.

The Rev. John Raphael of the New Hope Baptist church says guns in the sanctuary are anathema to what a church is meant to be.

"Great tragedy would follow if someone (inside) ever felt the need to use a gun," said Raphael, a policeman-turned-pastor. "That would do more to harm the mission of the church, than to help. It's a matter of faith that we trust God to protect us more than we trust our own ability.

"We should project the image that we trust in God."