By David L. Goetsch
Doug Giles is a man you should know. One of the brightest stars in the galaxy of conservative thought, Doug is the man behind ClashDaily.com, a popular columnist for TownHall.com, and author of an excellent, thought-provoking new book, Rise, Kill and Eat: A Theology of Hunting from Genesis to Revelation. Doug’s articles have appeared in numerous other print and online media outlets including The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, Fox Nation, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Examiner, The Blaze, American Hunter Magazine, and ABC News. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel and Fox Business Channel as well as numerous nationally syndicated radio shows across the nation.
Doug and his wife Margaret have two daughters: Hannah, who devastated ACORN with her nation-shaking undercover videos, and Regis who is an NRA columnist, huntress, Second Amendment activist, and owner of GirlsJustWannaHaveGuns.com. Doug’s interests include guns, big game hunting, big game fishing, fine art, cigars, helping wounded warriors, and regularly offending people who dislike God and the USA (by challenging their mushy-headed thinking with logic, reason, and facts). Doug’s long list of accolades includes “One of the 40 Best Conservative Websites of 2013”, one of the “50 Best Conservative Columnists of 2013,” one of the “100 Most Popular Conservative Websites for 2013,” and “Hot Conservative New Media Superman” (by Politichicks). Doug recently took time out from his ultra-busy schedule to join me for an interview about his new book, Rise, Kill and Eat: A Theology of Hunting from Genesis to Revelation.”
I am fascinated by the title of your new book, “Rise, Kill and Eat: A Theology of Hunting from Genesis to Revelation.” How did you decide on that title?
The title comes from Acts 10:13 when God had to set straight a discombobulated disciple named Peter using a vision that entailed a hunting illustration.
The theme of your book is obvious from the title, but can you expound on it further?
Hunting, like virtually every other time-honored tradition, is under attack in the United States of Sassy Secularism. Christians have even bought into this “Jesus was a bearded hippy” stercore tauri that if we shoot and eat animals we are the bad guys. This is more in line with PETA’s anti-theistic worldview than the Biblical worldview, and my book’s goal is to slam dunk that mushy-headed worldview smack into smithereens. Essentially, my book is an apologetic about not being apologetic about hunting. It shows, through the balance of Scripture, that the God of the Bible ordained hunting and called it a blessing for those who are fortunate enough to be able to do it.
How many chapters are there in your new book and what are the main topics covered?
There are 12 chapters, a foreword by Ted Nugent, and an Afterburner by me. The main topics in my book entail: Who fell the first animal according to Scripture and why it might—no it will—shock you; The great Old Testament characters who engaged in the activity of hunting; an exposition concerning whether “thou shall not kill” means we are not to hunt quail or eat bass; a shocker chapter that shows God ordained taxidermy and that the Biblical greats wore leather and hides; a reminder that God assisted David in killing a bear and a lion (a bear and a lion David did not eat after killing them); documentation that Jesus was no vegan hippie, but rather a fish slayer and meat eater and that he personally oversaw the capture and killing of thousands of fish, ate a little lamb, and sent 2,000 pigs plummeting to their death; the fact that the Bible utilizes a hunting analogy in communicating the gracious and glorious gospel message to Peter in Acts 10; and finally, that one of the greatest parables about God’s love and forgiveness—the Prodigal Son (Luke 15), ends with a big ‘ole bar-b-cue!
If you had just three minutes to describe your book to someone, what would you tell them?
If—and that’s a big “if”—a person looked to Scripture and paid particular attention to the passages that address the topic of hunting, he would walk away thinking that not only is hunting tolerated but it is endorsed by God. And that is exactly what this little book is about: proving that God, from Genesis to Revelation, is extremely cool with hunters and hunting. I will go out on a Biblical limb and claim right off the bat that no one can show me through the balance of Scripture, that the God of Scripture is against the killing and grilling of the animals he created (Genesis 9:1-3). This book’s sole intent is to showcase, through both the Old Testament and New, what the Scriptures say about hunting, so that when hunters are besieged by screaming whiners opposed to hunting, they can stand firm on the Verbum Dei, feel proud, and say: “Leave me alone. I am doing the Lord’s work.”
Your book sounds like a true blessing for hunters and Second Amendment supporters who are constantly besieged by the anti-hunting, anti-guns crowd. How can readers get a copy of your book?
Signed and unsigned copies are available at risekillandeat.com.
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Thanks to the Liberty Alliance team for this interview. To check out their network of conservative sites click here.
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