Gun rights advocates see the government as their enemy, but I think that sometimes their worst foes are staring at them from the mirror. The latest candidate for "Shoot the movement in the foot" is Pastor Ken Pagano of the New Bethel Church in Louisville, KY, who has invited his congregation to gather on Saturday night, June 27, and celebrate their right to bear arms by bringing their guns to church.

Pagano, a gun instructor, has invited his congregation and the public at large to attend what he calls an "open carry celebration", although concealed carry will also be celebrated. The New York Times quotes Pagano as saying "God and guns were part of the foundation of this country." So were slavery and smallpox, by the way.

For those who have witnessed gun violence in church, such as the members of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church who last year watched a gay-hating dirtball gun down two of their fellow worshipers, the notion of using the church to celebrate firearms is offensive. Shouldn't church be a sanctuary free from such weapons? Would you feel comfortable worshiping God while surrounded by Glocks? Then you might really enjoy Bagdad.

I'm not anti or pro-gun, but I have to think that the gun rights cause will be hurt rather than helped by Pagano's fete. I'm reminded of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, that begins "To everything there is a season." I think most people would agree that the time to pack and the time to pray are not the same time.