My best memories of childhood was playing “guns” with the other kids, imitating US SWAT teams and cowboys like Shane, John Wayne and the men of Little House on the Prairie.

For us, those toy guns were a symbol of brave men, fighting against incredible odds, to resist tyranny, preserve freedom and protect their families.Unfortunately today, guns both real and toy, are politically incorrect.

In effect, we have adopted the pagan fallacy of animism; that evil lurks in things, rather than people. Therefore demonising guns (even toy ones) gives self-righteous crusaders some feeling of power. Ban toy guns and hey presto, you banish the evil.

People today fear firearms of any sort because they rightly fear the consequences of living in a godless society. Modern South Africans reject God and His law and then are horrified that their children grow up to become consistent with what has been hammered into them in thirteen years at the State propaganda mills.They have been taught that there is no truth, no objective standard of justice, that they are just an evolved animal, guns are evil and that there are no absolutes.

Parents delegate the rearing of their children to the nanny state, the schools, the TV and video-games and then wonder why some of them turn out to be killers. But no, it cannot be our lack of faith, our lack of personal morality, our lack of objective truth, our materialistic mentality or our adoption of ancient pagan heresies that are causing the problems. It must be the toy guns!

We should want our children to be aggressive against injustice, adventurous in their lives and instill in them a hatred for evil and a deep desire to fight it.

After all, the best defence against a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.

Mr. Plato, thank you for your kind gesture in blessing the children with toys!

As many of you know, the book is about a terrorist attack on our church in 1993 and explores the Biblical foundation for self-defense.

I hope you’ll take the time to check it out at Smashwords, where you can sample the first 20% of the book for free.

Here’s the link to my book page, where you can sample or purchase the e-book: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94578

This book is also available in print and documentary DVD formats at WorldNetDaily.

Won’t you please take a moment to spread the word about my book to everyone you know?

Thank you so much for your support!

Charl van Wyk

PS. E-book sales during October will be supporting our ministry outreach to Central Africa.

PPS. Enter the code GX68Z prior to completing the checkout and only pay $4.99 (before 31 October). When you download the book a review link will appear; comments will be much appreciated.

Amongst other constitutional freedoms of which we are being deprived by this proposed law includes our right to privacy, protection of life and presumption of innocence; this law is also inconsistent with the ‘prohibition of arbitrary deprivation of property’ clause supposedly guaranteed by S25 of the Constitution.

The stated intention of this Bill is to protect citizens from any criminal who ‘intends’ to use an object as a weapon to commit an unlawful act. Since when can anyone know someone else’s intention? This bill can become a law of unintended consequences which would limit people’s ability to defend themselves.

We are supposed to be a free people; that means that we are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. How on earth can anyone be criminalized for the ’suspicion’ of intent or the possibility that they ‘may’ pose a danger. Until someone commits a crime, how dare the state presume guilt by intention?

The civil authorities must be aware that if the state creates a weapons free society, they are liable for any harm it causes.  Why would those in authority rather see law-abiding, disarmed citizens die, than risk armed citizens harming a criminal?

The best defence against a bad guy with a dangerous weapon, is a good guy with a dangerous weapon. In fact any law that stops law abiding citizens from protecting their lives, is an illegitimate law.

Scrap the Bill.

Boys should learn self-defence

After giving Christian input to a secular US parenting magazine, I thought I’d never hear from them again. I was surprised when the reporter emailed me back with: “Thank you so much – this is really terrific.”

Here are the questions and my answers:

Q: Please tell me about things unique to your culture, specifically in regard to raising your children: Like are there certain stories, rituals, family traditions, practices, social gatherings, celebrations, spiritual beliefs, books and anything else?

A: My Dutch ancestors arrived in, what is today, Cape Town, South Africa, in the late 1600s. The Dutch settlement was a re-supply point and way station for the Dutch East India Company ships sailing between the Netherlands and the East Indies. These settlers later became known as Afrikaners.

Historically our children have been brought up to obey and respect authority. Dutch Reformed Christianity was entrenched in Afrikaner culture – we have a tradition called ‘Boekevat’ (taking the book), of parents (usually the father), reading from the Bible to his family. We still, after hundreds of years, practice this tradition in our family.

We have found that this tradition and our Christian beliefs have given our children a confidence and sense of belonging to the greater ‘Christian family’ worldwide. So when we have traveled with them to Zambia in Central Africa, or the USA, they have a natural affinity in connecting with their peers, whether they are AIDS orphans or children of wealthy families.

Story: My great, great grandmother was a cousin to President Paul Kruger of the Transvaal Republic (gold coin – Kruger Rand, was named after him). It was said that as president he gave free land to the churches, but only half the portion to the Jews, because they only believed half the Bible. (People think this is funny where we come from, but I’m sure this would be frowned upon in other societies, even though it is just a tale.)

Q: Are there any (unique things mentioned in Q1) you find particularly beneficial to your children? – Specifically, are there ways (cultural / religious / unique to you) that you use to help your children gain a sense of positive belief in themselves? Or a sense of courage, inner power, or confidence?

A: South Africa is one of the most dangerous societies in the world; I have survived a terrorist attack, car stoning and attempted car-jacking. Our neighbor was stabbed in his home just before we left for the US in June last year. My children, while peering through the lounge window, saw the police arrest the stabber in our backyard.

This causes us to be over protective of our children. On arrival at the townhouse where we were living in Springfield, VA, my 9-year-old son was concerned because the townhouse had no burglar bars or security gates; needless to say, it took us months to settle at night and sleep through. At home we get up for any strange noise and go and check that the family is alright and no crime is about to take place.

Positive belief, confidence and courage are critical issues we keep reinforcing daily. We teach that life is not just about ourselves, but rather also serving others – this instills a sense of purpose or positive belief; confidence is built by getting the children to do things over and over again until they master what they are doing e.g. my two sons throw knives with their grandfather for hours.

Courage is instilled by letting our children do crazy things – well, we did not think they were crazy until we spent time in the US.

I asked my children how they thought they were being brought up differently to their US friends. These were some ideas:

- We are allowed to climb trees; the other boys in the townhouse complex may not
- The public pools don’t allow us to dive/jump off the high diving boards
- Some people were very concerned when they found my children walking over an iced creek in the forest in the US
- We were looking at a beautiful waterfall in the Shenandoah Valley and my 7-year-old son said: If we were back home, we’d be in that water, wouldn’t we?
- They have been taught to throw knives, shoot bows and arrows and fire real guns from 5- years-old onwards (under grown-up supervision when necessary)
- Camping, swimming in rivers and dams with snakes and leaches – all form part of our ‘fun’
- I remember some youths from the USA came to help at a mission base in Zambia; they had the time of their lives cutting undergrowth to make a road for vehicles. The fun included hanging on the roof racks of the vehicles while in motion – this got us Africans into so much trouble from our US counterparts – we did not even consider this to be ‘too dangerous’!

Q: I am looking forward to learning more about your experiences and culture. Also, I welcome you sharing about your own personal experiences of being raised and what was incredibly positive. The type of things you want (or do) to pass along to your children. Beliefs, books, rituals or anything unique that helped you become the unique person you are today and helped you feel good / think good thoughts. As an aside, I would also welcome your impressions of American parents and what they do really well, and what, overall, needs some possible improvement.

A: I was brought up outdoors, camping, hiking, swimming in rivers, dams, the sea, cycling, dirt motorcycling etc. – very different to most westernized societies, I think, where children spend a lot of time on computers. We have a more temperate climate, which lends itself to more outdoor activities.

We were overwhelmed by the kindness shown to us by US citizens in general – Americans are the most generous people in the world; the children are extremely eloquent in the way they communicate – we love this. Amongst the people we have rubbed shoulders with, a healthy attitude of giving is instilled in their children – the less fortunate are helped and supported.

It is concerning the amount of childhood disorders and mental health issues that appear in the US society. I’m not sure if they do or don’t exist in Africa or if we just are unaware of them – I don’t know what the solution to the challenges are, but back in Africa a good healthy dose of tree climbing, swimming in the dams and rivers, I’m sure would work wonders.

[Charl van Wyk] Correct. It is discipleship that we are lacking in. This is crucial – if we are not discipling the nations i.e. changing nations/cultures to become Christian nations/cultures, then we are not fulfilling God’s command in Matthew 28.

Friend: My friend from PI said there has been such great growth in the number of people coming to Christ, but yet the impact to society is not seen. There are some markers he quoted, like gov. corruption, education, poverty levels, etc and they are getting worse, not better. So where is the impact? And then I ask the same question about the church in America? And what is the answer?

[Charl van Wyk] Correct again; and if you dare ask such questions publically, you are the one who is being negative and causing strife in the Church body! The truth is that until we have a comprehensive Gospel that affects every area of life and not just a ‘quick get out of hell’ scheme, we are not going to make a real difference of impacting our world for Christ.

Apparently four assailants were at the crime scene. The victim used his firearm to defend himself as one of the intruders attacked him with a metal pipe inside his home. The violent criminal was shot in the lower body. The police then arrested the victim and confiscated his firearm.

South African law makers must seriously consider passing a Defence of Habitation Law; this legal doctrine arose from English Common Law – it assigns one’s place of residence or place of work as a sanctuary in which citizens enjoy protection from illegal trespassing and violent attack. It gives a person the legal right to use lethal force to protect himself and any other innocent persons, legally inside these areas.

Any violent attack or an intrusion which may lead to a violent attack in these areas justifies the use of lethal force. Surely, the victim’s case must be considered justifiable self-defence.

This madness of treating the victim like a criminal must stop.

Last week’s VCDL membership meeting in Annandale had an excellent guest speaker: Charl Van Wyk, who saved countless lives back in 1993 because he was able to shoot back at some terrorists who attacked a church he was attending.

The terrorists came in with nail-encrusted grenades and fully-automatic AK47s, intent on a full fledged massacre.

Read more: South African Man’s Story On A Real Life Gun Fight With Terrorists.

ANNANDALE, Va., – Charl van Wyk was faced with a terrifying situation: terrorists shooting up members of a church and all he had was a handgun. But he returned fire and the terrorists fled.

Now he’s warning Americans about the situation that exists for residents in his home of South Africa: Violence so bad families must hide behind burglar bars and a security gate fearing intruders and knowing that there’s no right to self-defense.

He says Americans need to be aware of – and protective of – their rights guarded by the 2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, or they could find themselves in a similar predicament.

At a meeting this week of the Virginia Citizens Defense League, he said South Africa ranks among the highest in the world in terms of rapes and murders, which average around 20,000 annually. Statistics show that only war-torn Colombia has more murders and that South Africa has the highest number of rapes in the world.

Read more: Churchgoer who shot back says gun rights need protecting

We watched plenty of reporters live on-scene, reporting how the demonstrations erupting across the Arab world represented largely peaceful expressions of flowering democracy. 

Yet for some reason, capturing and critically analyzing what’s happening since seems to warrant less examination. This is because what’s happening—particularly in Egypt—doesn’t exactly fit the media’s original assumption that democracy, at least the western understanding thereof, would develop. 

It must be stated that Islamic views of democracy are complex and bear little resemblance to those found in the West. So certainly, western reporters—so largely secular they clearly understand little of Islam— are ill equipped to decipher those complexities. 

Like any great debate, it begins with defining the language—which while familiar to western ears is foreign in practice to most Africans (and nearly all Middle-Easterners). Congo calls itself a democratic republic, but don’t let the words fool you as they’re little more than clever marketing. In fact, words like “freedom” and “democracy” don’t have the same meaning in Africa as they do in the United States. Freedom’ usually means access to resources or government jobs. “Democracy” often means supporting one man, with one vote (under severe pressure), once and never again as he retains power as permanently and ruthlessly as possible.

This firmly rooted mentality is ripe for Islam’s all-encompassing level of influence. That’s why I assert unflinchingly that western style democracy cannot develop in an Islamic society and the evidence testifies to such. Islam——and the Sharia law that serves as its ideal of justice—is intolerant of anything resembling representative government and human rights. 

Islam is incompatible with anything recognizing those self-evident truths that the US founders so eloquently summarized “that all men are created equal” and “endowed by their Creator” with unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

The beauty of this language and the rest of the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution affirming its assertions lies in its recognition of where rights, life, freedom and any chance at happiness derive—from a sovereign, holy and forgiving God. Your founders’ understanding and enshrinement of this gave a more natural embrace to its most fitting governmental expression—a federal constitutional republic. 

Consider the track “democracy” is on in Egypt: News of Egypt’s first substantive vote in decades was undermined by the package of nine constitutional amendments hinging on an up-or-down vote, with the Muslim Brotherhood recommending a yes vote. 

Critics say that’s because they benefit from the quick timetable for elections – possibly June 2011. 

As an established political party, the Muslim Brotherhood will be prepared for mobilizing their resources and fielding candidates. 

The Muslim Brotherhood isn’t merely an Islamist organization—it is the mother of all Islamist organizations. (“Islamist” describes more militant Islamic groups.) Its dedication to establishing Islamic rule is unwavering. This is best accomplished by removing or neutering the primary obstacles in its path—Israel and the United States. Hostility toward Israel is open and unmasked. Its influence on the States is far more deceptive, and described in a stunning expose published by Joseph Farah and WND Books. 

If you haven’t read “Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That’s Conspiring to Islamize America,” I highly recommend it. It’s a survival manual and vital reading that will help the west see through the distortion and omission littering the reporting that they are  getting now.  

Keep in mind: Egypt’s governing military council recently released Mohammed al-Zawahri. Zawahri is the brother of the infamous and still at-large Ayman al-Zawahri—the second-in-command of al Qaeda. Zawahri is one of 1,659 released prisoners the council has released and one of several notorious Islamists, including two terrorists tied to the assassination of Egyptian Anwar Sadat. Hosni Mubarak followed Sadat. That assassination was orchestrated by those associated with the Muslim Brotherhood. 

The obvious upside to the demonstrations and revolts is how deeply they unsettle dictators and despots. Reports show that Robert Mugabe, who rules Zimbabwe with merciless oppression, is  threatening treason charges, punishable by death, on anyone who even watches footage favorably casting the demonstrations. 

Tyrants such as Moammar Gadhafi have courted a comeuppance of violent revolt, to be sure. But let’s not allow ourselves to be fooled into believing that what arises from the ashes—which will surely profess adherence to Islam—will result in anything resembling western type democracy with its constitutional freedoms.

I have been criticized as having used the St. James attack to justify my personal theology – that Christians must defend themselves.

I argue that this is most definitely not my “personal theology” but is historically the theology of mainline Christianity. In fact, it is those who do not support the individuals’ right and responsibility to self-defense who are neglecting the theology of the Bible.

Read more: Packing heat: A God-ordained right