A church in Pennsylvania will hold a ceremony in which couples are told to bring in their AR-15s for a blessing. If they don’t already own one, the church essentially ordered them to purchase a $700 gift certificate from a gun store to show that they intend to acquire one.
“If unable to purchase and legally transport such a ‘rod of iron’ because of laws barring the purchase of such weapons, or other reasons, couples are invited to purchase a $700 gift certificate from a gun store, as evidence of their intent to purchase a ‘rod of iron’ in the future,” the church said.
You are absolutely not hallucinating, this story is all too real.
BLESS THIS
In a case of irony so thick you can almost taste it, the church is called the World Peace and Unification Sanctuary, or Sanctuary Church for short.
Rev. Hyung Jin Moon is the current leader of Sanctuary Church. Founded by his father, Sun Myung Moon in the 1950s, the church wants the world to stay the way it was. It espouses social conservatism, the division of the sexes, and opposition to LGBTQ lifestyles.
On top of the blessing ceremony, Sanctuary Church is co-sponsoring a pro-gun rights dinner this Saturday as well. The dinner is called the “President Trump Thank you Dinner.” It will benefit the Gun Owners Foundation with a specific focus on the reciprocity act which would allow these nutjobs to carry a concealed weapon legally.
UNRELATED TO MASS SHOOTINGS
The church insists that it has no “ill intent,” and that it does not see any connection to the horrific massacre that took place just last week in Florida. Church leaders insist that these firearms are only for self-defense.
Don’t worry, though, the guns used in the ceremony will remain unloaded.
“All of the weapons in the ceremony will be checked to make sure they are unloaded, with a zip tie so that no bullets can be inserted,” Sanctuary Church president Richard Panzer said in an email.
THE IRONY IS PAINFUL
The irony here is painful. Churches are supposed to be places of peace and, yes, sanctuary. I don’t know about you, but I feel anything but at peace when I am surrounded by untrained lunatics in a cult armed with weapons of war they were ordered to purchase by their reverend.
It should come as no surprise that the Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that monitors extremists and hate groups, listed Sanctuary church as a cult with an anti-LGBTQ agenda.
The church plans to hold the ceremony next Wednesday. It is located in Newfoundland, Pennsylvania which is in Wayne County in the northeast portion of the state.
Feature Image via Vimeo Video.
