It’s time for armed guards in places of worship (Opinion)

You would never want it to come to this, but with yet another shooting, this time at a Pittsburgh synagogue,  It's time to post armed guards in places of worship and those places should pay for them. In fact, Rabbi Gary Moscowitz arms himself.

When I heard that a man walked into Tree of Life Synagogue yelling "All Jews must die" and opened fire, I felt outrage. How is this able to happen in a place where people come for sanctuary, to get away from the very things like this? What gives this man who acted alone the power to do something like that? How about the fact that there is no one there to stop him, that's what.

Eleven people died before the police could take him.  Perhaps if there was an armed guard on duty, this coward would have never attempted such a heinous act.  Maybe if there were someone there with a weapon, this killer could get started serving his punishment in the next life sooner.

They say "The Lord works in mysterious ways". No mystery here. You use what's available to protect your own. Those armed security would be doing God's work protecting their flock. There are several stories in both the new and old testaments where soldiers protected believers, and this is no different.

When you think about all the expenses these places of worship have, and all the money they take in, they could surely afford to pay someone to keep them alive. Perhaps a member can donate his or her time in lieu of the weekly tithe.

This year, The Anti-Defamation League reported a record 57% uptick in anti-Semitic incidents nationwide. In this century alone, we have had 18 fatal church shootings. The deadliest was the 2017 shooting at First Baptist Sutherland Springs in Texas, with 26 deaths (including an unborn child).

In this country, we protect our airports and malls better than we protect our schools and churches. We've long been at the point where crazed people think they can walk into a synagogue, church, school, or theatre and do this. It's time to make them think twice about what will happen to them if they try it. Amen.

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