gaps are widening..     

Coming out of the Fort Hood massacre, we’ve heard words like “heroism”, “terrorism”, “combat disorder”, “fear”, “Muslim”, “hate”, and “harassment”. The thing that is frightening to many however, isn’t that these words are used, but what each of them are describing and what they are being used to justify. I’d like to take a short look at what several aspects of this case seem to indicate about the state of our hearts and minds in America today.

 

Overview of Incident

At approximately 13:30 Sierra (local time) at Fort Hood, TX a lone gunman jumped onto a desk in the Soldier Readiness Processing Center and began firing shots into a mass of hundreds of soldiers who were involved in outprocessing for deployment. There are conflicting reports on what the suspect did before the shooting, whether or not he shouted anything, and what he may post on various radical web sites, but we do know that he is Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army psychiatrist, age 39. The shooting ended when Kim Munley, a Ft. Hood police Sgt. (and others) responded and shot the suspect. Mrs. Munley was hit three times, twice through the left leg and once in her right wrist, Hasan was hit four times, both survived the shooting. 13 people died and 30 or more were wounded in this tragedy.

Honor and Courage

Kim Munley is being hailed as a “hero” and cited for bravery because she arrived quickly, faced the gunman, and shot him while taking fire. It is a practical assumption that she fired on the gunman after she had already been hit. I think that she would counter that claim with, “I was doing my job”, but deep down, most of us know that what she did was ‘right’, it was ‘good’, and that the heart that motivated that action should be held up as a goal for all. There is another place in this story where the word ‘hero’ was used however, and that was – allegedly – a posting by Major Hasan referring to contemporary suicide bombers as morally and ethically equal to a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save his comrades. Many would assert that the only difference between a freedom fighter and a terrorist is the victor; the person who records the history of the event. Why then do we – deep down where no-one sees the other – know that she [Munley] was heroic and that Hasan’s alleged deeds were certainly not? While I would assert that the Lord has placed in us each a sense of who He is, and thus a clear sense of right and wrong, I think that when we act or speak – over time – in a way that is contrary to what we know is right, that this discontinuity breeds discontent and guilt. When we know a thing is right, and we pass it off or over in deference to ‘political correctness’ or to avoid conflict, we lose a piece of our collective integrity. Moments such as Kim’s action serve as a split-second to celebrate the right, but they also make us confront the fact that we cover the wrong all too often.

I have heard it stated that Maj. Hasan was suffering from a ‘pre-traumatic stress disorder’, and that is what prompted his action. First of all I find that to be highly unlikely, but in the event it is partially true, let me share with you what that politically correct phrase really means; Maj. Hasan was scared. Here’s my question; when did the fighting men and women of this nation begin to let fear rule their actions!? Don’t you think that every solider goes through some fear when getting called up, deployed, and each time they begin a mission? Courage isn’t the absence of fear, it is the ability to control it and move forward in the face of it. Praise the Lord that our fighting men and women are not all made of the same weak and rubbery stuff that Maj. Hasan seems to have at his core!

Church and State

Regardless additional information on the topic, there will continue to be speculation that Hasan’s Muslim faith had something to do with the shooting. It has been alleged that he shouted “Allahu Akhbar” before shooting, and whether or not that is true, he certainly was a practicing Muslim. While there are many peaceful Muslims, I find it intellectually annoying that we are not ‘allowed’ to talk about the fact that most present-day terrorists are Muslims, certainly not without prefacing the word “Muslim” with “radical”. If course it is radical, it involves murder! I know I’ll get blasted by some for saying that his faith had something to do with his actions, but if your faith doesn’t change who you are, is it useful at all? Shouldn’t your religion, your “faith”, affect who you are and what you choose to do? For all those that defend the fact that we have radical Muslim mullahs in this country, practicing their hatred and training a new breed of terrorist, would you defend a Christian who stood outside an abortion center and detonated an explosive vest preceded by a shout of “Jesus is Lord”!?

Military and Operations

I am personally embarrassed by the process whereby our politicians choose to engage the enemy and – indeed – the method whereby we define “enemy”. It is certainly the case that some of the conflicts in which we’ve been involved recently, that there is no reasonable way to say that we were “protecting our national security”. If we are to be the world’s policemen, let us do that, policing everyone and everywhere, following Ann Coulter’s tongue-in-cheek maxim, “Let us invade their countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity”. We must do this then with the Russians, the Chinese, and the North Koreans… everyone, no matter how powerful they are. On the other hand, we could pursue a policy of isolationism, policing no one and defending our shores with rock-solid defense. Regardless our choice, we must have an honorable course charted, and follow it with integrity, rather than going to fight in little places where we think we have a chance of success.

On that note, how can our world-class military lose in places like Somalia, Iraq, and Afghanistan!? It’s been said that this is a new kind of warfare, with people who don’t care if they live or die, guerilla fighting techniques, etc just cannot be matched by our large fighting force. Really!? Americans have been defined, for 234 years, by their ability to recognize, adapt, and overcome, and even though the military machine is a huge bureaucracy that can slow almost anything down, isn’t it far more likely that the reason we cannot win is the same as it has been since the Vietnam War? When American fighting men and women cannot emerge victorious, it is because politicians refuse to turn the war over to those with experience fighting it. If we followed Sun Tzu’s advice, and avoided war at almost all costs, but when war became necessary we gave it over to the military for prosecution, I am convinced that we would emerge victorious in every conflict we entered.

Almost all of what we feel and discuss where this tragedy is concerned brings to light the bare and glaring fact that Americans say and do things that are no longer backed by a moral underpinning. We do not endeavor to find what is right, do what is right, or tell others why we act the way we do. If there is any good news, it is that – on the rare occasion that we see someone do the right thing – we recognize it when we see it, and we celebrate it. I pray that we will recognize this trend away from what is right, that we will reverse it, and that actions of integrity will become the ‘norm’ once again.

You see, everything that happens here, either happens because God wants it to, or God allows it to happen and then uses it for His good. Just because we can’t seem to figure out how it could be “good for us” doesn’t mean it isn’t. God is frightfully wise compared to us.

Instead of looking at the death to which we are bound here, and then trying to draw some conclusions about what God might be like and what He might want, we must shed our view of this ‘reality’, realize that we are only strangers here, and read Scripture to get a view of what God desires and what God wants; regardless our condition here. Looking at what’s around us and drawing conclusions about God is much like a deep-sea dwelling creature believing that the entire world is covered with water, because his local area is. That creature’s view is understandably narrow, and so is ours. God has a frame of reference that is eternal and complete, and He’s given us a view into it through His word. Let’s investigate what God says about how to live and how to govern…

How Should we Live?
First, let’s look at how God asks us to live, individually, before looking at what God has to say about governance. Since we will be standing in front of the throne alone, answering for ourselves, and Christ saves us individually, it makes sense to look at our lives from an individual perspective.

Leviticus 19:18 and Mark 12: 29-31 both give us the “greatest commandment”, stating that we should love the Lord our God with all our heart and love our neighbor as ourselves. In our Western society, which has been recently built on ‘having things’ and ‘doing what I want’, it is almost unthinkable to set ourselves aside for anyone, let alone all of our fellow men.  For instance, 2 Cor 8:1 begins a section on how sacrificial giving is one way that we can tell we love someone. There are many examples and statements in the Bible about how to carry out this love for our neighbors, but – in summary – they all involve not doing anything to their detriment, being there when you are needed, and setting yourself aside for them. That last one really is the ‘gotcha’, isn’t it?

I feel a statement on the word “love” is needed here, as modern society didn’t stop when they redefined “freedom” as “doing what I want” and “independence” as “wanton selfishness is ok”, we’ve also redefined the word “love” to mean “a fluffy good feeling about anything anybody does and considering all actions and lifestyles equal”. Deut 7:7 talks about love being a ‘choosing’ of the people of Israel, and we know that the Lord tested them, punished them, challenged them, and changed them. Prov 8:17 talks about reciprocal love, that the Lord loves those who seek Him. Prov 13:24 is the infamous ‘rod and child’ verse that seems to indicate that love involves training and that this call for training is certainly higher than the call to allow children to live as they like. Hosea 9:15 talks about the Lord’s love ending as a result of His children hating His ways. Much of Proverbs and Isa 61:8 talk about recompense and punishment for wrong, even though the people in question are “loved”. We can love each other and still have ethical standards that we hold each other to. We can love each other and still recognize that there is a distinction between right and wrong. We can hold love for people in our hearts at all times, regardless their actions, because they have been made in the image of our Almighty God. We can actively love people in our effort to reach their hearts for the Lord, but do not blaspheme the Lord by saying that all actions are equal and that love is carte blanche’ acceptance of all activity on this earth. God states the opposite in His word, (see Romans 1:32) and we would do well to listen.

So, sounds to me like we’re saying that we should give of ourselves to others when they are in need and that we should consider others before we consider ourselves… sure sounds like socialism! Well, it doesn’t actually, but let’s continue with a look at what God says about government.

Government
First, God cautioned the children of Israel against having a form of government that set men above other men. In 1 Samuel 8:1-18 the Lord explains to Samuel, and then Samuel to the people, what will happen if they reject God as their leader and take a man instead. This seems to indicate to me that God wants us to seek Him as our leader, and that He knows that other men will ever be inferior to Him as a governing body. Kind of a, “I’ve given you the best plan, be careful what you ask for, I might give it to you”, from God Himself. ?Matt. 22:17–21? ?Luke 20:25?. ?Rom. 13:1–7?; ?Tit. 3:1?; and ?1 Pet. 2:13–17 all define our responsibilities to our earthly governments. Even though we do not – now – look directly to God for our government guidance, He is still in control of all and expects us to follow our government, until it conflicts with His law.

So, it seems as though God knows that the “best way” for us is to acknowledge Him as our ruler but that He knows we won’t always. He knows that we need earthly figures to rule over us, and He allows this, while keeping His hand over us. He holds us to their rule, until they ask us to do something that would go against His law. God has set up and torn down many forms of government. Ours isn’t the first, and it won’t be the last.

Legislation versus The Heart
This still leaves a major question, specifically, where socialism is concerned; should we legislate ‘giving’? What I mean is, it is clear from Scripture that we are to set ourselves aside for our brother (sister), and we are to help one another, but should our government force the issue?

In Luke 18:12 we see the tax collector that ‘willingly gives’ his tithe and crows about it. While it looks like he does it willingly, the Lord still does not hold this acceptable; why not? 2 Cor 9:7 seems to answer the question; we must give cheerfully what we have decided in our heart, NOT what we have been forced to do or what is compulsory… wow, wonder how that matches up with current federal tax ‘law’? As soon as we legislate ‘giving’, it is no longer pleasing to the Lord. (read it again, repeat)

Charity
The reason charity doesn’t work in this country – or on this planet at all – is because God has a way He wants it done, and we aren’t doing it that way. There are many things that we can surmise about why He wants it done that way, some theological and some practical. For instance, if I – personally – give something to you and enjoy doing it, you will see the love of the Lord in me as I give it. That’s a witness, and a powerful one. From a humanist perspective, if I – personally – give you something, you might be thankful and have some desire to repay me or to work your way out of your tough situation so that you can someday help another. As soon as a faceless giant that everyone hates anyhow – the government – performs these functions, there is no witness and there is no desire to grow. Again, it doesn’t matter if we can find ways to justify God’s plan, it is His plan and we are to act on it.

So, my conclusion is that socialism as a form of government is certainly not God-mandated and – in fact – it stands directly against the Biblical precept of us as “cheerful givers”. Not only was Christ not a socialist, He was God become man with the power to save you and me. He loved us all enough to die for us; will you listen to Him today?

Technorati Tags: charity, giving, god, obama, socialism, socialist

I had a dream the other night, I didn’t understand.
A figure walking through the mist, with flintlock in his hand.
His clothes were torn and dirty, as he stood there by my bed.
He took off his three-cornered hat, and speaking low, he said:

“We fought a revolution, to secure our liberty.
We wrote the Constitution, as a shield from tyranny.
For future generations, this legacy we gave.
In this, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

“The freedom we secured for you, we hoped you’d always keep.
But tyrants labored endlessly while your parents were asleep.
Your freedom gone, your courage lost, you’re no more than a slave.
In this, the land of the free and home of the brave.

“You buy permits to travel, and permits to own a gun,
Permits to start a business, or to build a place for one.
On land that you believe you own, you pay a yearly rent.
Although you have no voice in choosing, how the money’s spent.

“Your children must attend a school that doesn’t educate.
Your Christian values can’t be taught, according to the state.
You read about the current news, in a regulated press.
You pay a tax you do not owe, to please the I.R.S.

“Your money is no longer made of Silver or of Gold.
You trade your wealth for paper, so your life can be controlled.
You pay for crimes that make our Nation, turn from God in shame.
You’ve taken Satan’s number, as you’ve traded in your name.

“You’ve given government control, to those who do you harm,
So they can padlock churches, and steal the family farm,
And keep our country deep in debt, put men of God in jail,
Harass your fellow countrymen, while corrupted courts prevail.

“Your public servants don’t uphold the solemn oath they’ve sworn.
Your daughters visit doctors, so their children won’t be born.
Your leaders ship artillery, and guns to foreign shores,
And send your sons to slaughter, fighting other people’s wars.

“Can you regain the freedom for which we fought and died?
Or don’t you have the courage, or the faith to stand with pride?
Are there no more values for which you’ll fight to save?
Or do you wish your children, to live in fear and be a slave?

“People of the Republic, arise and take a stand!
Defend the Constitution, the Supreme Law of the Land!
Preserve our Great Republic, and GOD-Given Right!
And pray to GOD, to keep the torch of Freedom burning bright!”

As I awoke he vanished, in the mist from whence he came.
His words were true, we are not Free, we have ourselves to blame.
For even now as tyrants, trample each GOD-Given Right,
We only watch and tremble, too afraid to stand and fight.

If he stood by your bedside, in a dream, while you’re asleep,
And wonders what remains of our Rights he fought to keep,
What would be your answer, if he called out from the grave:
“IS THIS STILL THE LAND OF THE FREE AND HOME OF THE BRAVE???”

Technorati Tags: Constitution, freedom, government, Liberty

First, let me say that I don’t believe this man was sinning, because he honestly doesn’t believe that it is an issue. We’re asked to examine ourselves and the Scriptures to decide what is right and what is wrong, that is, to undergo a process of examination to decide what is right and I’d like to make sure, so I go to Scripture since it is infinitely wise and right.

This is the point that we’ll examine in this post. Is it “a sin” to go a few miles an hour over the set speed limit?

I’d like to suggest that we step back from traffic laws and look at the larger picture. Does God actually expect us to obey the yokels that run our town, our state, our country!? I mean, does He expect us to obey the really key stuff, or does He intend that we should follow it all? What if our country asks us to do something that is in conflict with Scripture? What then? Let’s turn to Scripture for guidance and wisdom..

Romans 13:1-7 is the most commonly used passage in the New Testament when we discuss civil leaders. Here, Paul explains that we must each submit ourselves to “higher authorities”. The reason for this is that these authorities have been established by God, and rebelling against them or their laws is taking a stand against the ordinance of God. In verses six and seven Paul seems to indicate that beyond mere obedience, we are to support our government willingly by paying taxes and giving respect.

In 2 Peter 2:13, Peter takes the teaching of Paul and hammers it home, while maintaining the idea of Christian freedom. We are to obey the law of the land as it aligns with the law of the Lord (Acts 4:19), that is, we are to obey the law of the land unless it directly conflicts with the law of the Lord. Peter ends this section (verse 17) with the responsibilities of Christians one to the other, to fear God, and to obey the king.

Proverbs 24:21 makes it simple and explains that we have two authorities that we must obey, God and the king (our governing authorities).

The final passage we will look at is in Jeremiah 29, starting with verse seven; here, God sends word to the exiles in Babylon that they not only are to obey the rules of their captors, but they are to pray for the health and prosperity of the country! They were to submit to their captors and to pray for the success of those in power over them. This they were instructed to do for seventy years until they would turn their hearts to the Lord and He would bring them home.

These verses indicate – to me – that we are to follow all of the laws that civil authorities place for us and that we should, furthermore, do it joyfully and support those same leaders with prayer, respect, and our taxes. If you are convicted of this as I am, then I welcome you to the brotherhood of drivers that follow the speed limit and every traffic law. Prepare to be honked at.

Ron

P.S. Before I cam to this understanding of Scripture, I drove aggressively in my Jeep. I got around 14.5 mpg. Now that I drive within the bounds of all traffic law, calmly and reasonably, my gas mileage has increased to around 19 mpg. So, even if you don’t think as I do, a 24% decrease in gas cost for each forward mile might convince you?

Technorati Tags: government, obedience, sin, speed limit

Here are the four major reasons I believe that we have school shootings:

1. No consequences
We have created a society in the United States that allows a ridiculous amount of irresponsible action before any consequences are felt, and even then they are reduced to a mere fraction of what ‘life’ would do to someone naturally. When you are raised in an environment where no correction is given regularly – in little ways – you don’t learn what you “should” and “should not” do. Our capability for deviance from reasonable action becomes larger as we get older and without this regular course correction, a child can end up with sloppy impulse control and a failure to mature.

2. No respect for life
We tell our kids that they evolved from a puddle of goo and that they are animals like any other. We tell them that nothing makes humans special save their ability to reason and that simple evolutionary processes over millions of years resulted in our intelligence and ability to seem like we have this thing some silly religious types call a “soul”. We call it “sentience” so that we can devalue it’s real import. We kill our children in the womb with regularity and tell each other this is somehow “more caring” than raising it. Our personal wants and desires are more important than a life. With this we prove that life is accidental, a mere happenstance of chance and that it is not precious; it is not something to revere or protect.

3. No right and wrong
Since religious people are a bunch of whackjobs that need something outside themselves (when there really IS nothing), we tell our kids that every belief in any “god” is the same crutch as every other and that anything you “choose to believe” is right. Morals change as society changes and the majority of people’s actions select what is “right”. “Right” is only a definition and it changes with the ebb and flow of human choice. Since there is no truth, and no “right”, the corollary is quickly figured by the child and nothing is viewed as “wrong”.

4. No Love
Many children today are raised by parents that have bought into points 1-3 above and that add a great deal of selfishness to the mix. These children have no “time” with mom or dad and therefore do not feel “loved” in any real way. There is no-one that cares for them, and this feeling is hyper-injected with hormone fuel at puberty, pushing many teens into a black depression. This results in young adults that know the world is cold and does not care what happens to them.

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So, we have a child that feels that no one cares, that places no value on life, that thinks everything is “fine” to do, and that has never practiced denying themselves anything. Add to this mixture a pile of racing thoughts and hormones, and I cannot believe that there are not MORE shootings!

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So, faced with this dire situation, we ask, “What shall we do”? In short, we must reverse each point above. My personal opinion on how to do this appears below. Please understand that I know that both the problem and the solution are not four simple steps, but I do believe that these four things are fundamental to our success.

A. Parents should give their children consequences for incorrect action on a consistent and age-appropriate basis from a very young age. As a child matures, so do the consequences and as the child’s capacity to understand increases, so do the explanations of what these actions might bring in the world outside the home and why, “we don’t do that”. Society should then change to allow all citizens to feel the consequences of their own actions. If you don’t want to work, you don’t eat. If you want to live off of others and thieve to do that, you’ll end up working anyway; on a chain gang.

B. We should teach respect for life from a young age as well, by putting each other above ourselves and teaching that life is a gift from God, given to both the animals and man by God Himself. We should teach children that we are above the animals and are to care for them, but that God made us in His image and therefore we each have infinite significance as children of the King. Christ would have died for any ONE of us, and that makes our lives significant! We must then change society to reflect the view that life is important by protecting each other from those that would take life. This would come in the form of protecting life and limb and extending that basic right to children yet in the womb. We cannot tell children to put another before themselves and then put our convenience ahead of the lives of the unborn.

C. There is truth, and we should teach that to our children. Our God lives today and is active in our lives and on this earth. Children should be taught about faith, God, and how best to glorify Him; and then watch as their parents model that behavior. As Americans, we need to get over this misplaced and hyper-extended notion of a separation between church and state and begin to teach the truths that our forefathers recognized, that all rights come from God Himself and that He has given us the definition between “right” and “wrong”. Truth exists, and we should recognize it, teach it, and live it.

D. Does it not go without saying that if there is love that there will be less violence? We should love our children. I don’t mean that we should have “warm feelings” inside toward them, but we should LOVE, as a choice and as a verb. Place yourself aside as a parent and spend time with your children. Work alongside them, talk to them, listen to them, and give them a home in which they can emote and still be safe and protected. Teach them then to love as they have been loved. Explain to them what love is and means, don’t assume they “just know”. Explain what it takes to make interpersonal relationships work. Ensure that they understand that they can control only themselves and that they should love without expecting emotion in return. Tell them how they can do this because God does this with each of us, and as children of the King, we can do this for each other.

Will these things stop school shootings? Perhaps not entirely, but children that have been raised as I describe in an America as I describe will very likely be innoculated against that type of behavior from a young age.

Technorati Tags: children, ethics, gun, morals, parenting, school shootings, teaching

In 1962, SCOTUS heard Engel v. Vitale and ruled that a simple voluntary prayer could not be a part of a student’s day. So, should I yet believe the Supreme Court of the United States in 1962 when they tell me that the Fathers didn’t want prayer in governmental institutions? Or should I believe the words of the Founding Fathers themselves?

Let’s get back to the phrase, “separation of church and state”. It appears nowhere in either founding document and also does not appear in four months of notes from the floor of the Constitutional Convention. Now, I’ve heard people say, “But I KNOW that’s around the time the phrase came about”, and they are generally correct. The phrase was coined – as far as we know – in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association that was very specific and involved a query on whether or not the United States would ever mandate a state religion such as the Church of England in Britain. This letter was written fourteen (14) years after the Constitution was signed and responded to a very specific condition, not the general state of affairs. Also, since I am being “picky” about listening first to the men that were there and created our founding documents, I must reveal to you that Thomas Jefferson – from his own letters – can be shown to be in France during the formation of the Constitution and readily admitted that it was complete and penned before his return. He wasn’t even there!

In NewDow v. U.S. Congress, 2002 it was argued that reciting the pledge would establish a religion and that the state was “backing” a God-based form of religion. This case was dismissed, but only because SCOTUS determined that the parent who brought the suit was a non-custodial parent of the student required to recite the pledge and therefore had no standing before the court on her behalf. Jefferson himself would disagree, “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God”? Jefferson used the word “conviction” because he knew that this was something that had to be taught to children and bred in them from a young age. The concept of “melting pot” used to be that if you came to America, at age 18 when you left school that you would know what our American values were and you were willing to participate in that system and defend it. Jefferson knew, even then, that we were straying and said, “That they (liberties/values) are not to be violated but with His wrath. Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever”.

What is the effect on a nation when morals are blown by the wind and ethics are based on what is right each in our own mind? What happens when we remove God from schools, from science, and from all teaching? Univ. of Texas at Austin, Kent State, Fullerton Library, Stockton, Lindhurst, Richland, Bethel, Pearl, Jonesboro, Parker, Thurston, Columbine, Heritage, Buell, Red Lake, Amish school in Lancaster County, and a Louisiana Technical college three days ago. This is not an exhaustive list of school shootings, and I don’t pretend to say that removing God from school is the sole cause of events like these, but I think it is no coincidence that the earliest recorded shooting is 1966, and God was “officially removed” in 1962.

Good people, we tell our children that they came from a primordial pile of ooze, that this “evolved” into monkeys, and then into people. We further reinforce this idea of “existence irrelevance” by treating the unborn as cosmic accidents and as problems to be solved. This is a recipe for creating people that do not respect life; their own or anyone else’s. Add a teenager that is insecure with their body, their mind, feels unloved, and has been raised to have no base for a “soul”, and it all adds up to social violence. We’ve created the environment that molds people into beings with no self-respect and no respect for others.

So, what then shall we do?

John Francis Mercer said, “It is a great mistake to suppose that the paper we are to propose will govern the United States. It is the men whom it will bring into the government, and the interest they have in maintaining it, that is to govern them. The paper will only mark out the mode and the form; men are the substance and must do the business”.

Reverend Mathias Burnett: “Finally, ye.. whose power it is to save or destroy your country, consider well the important trust.. which God .. [has] put into your hands. To God and posterity you are accountable for them. Let not your children have reason to curse you for giving up those rights and prostrating those institutions which your fathers delivered to you”.

John Hancock: “I urge you, by all that is dear, by all that is honorable, by all that is sacred, not only to pray but to act”.

All of these quotes sum up the concept that we must act. Evil triumphs by default if we sit by and do nothing. Make no mistake folks, we are already on a slippery slope. The slope is human nature, and it is base and ever-downward. The slippery stuff, it’s called sin, and there is only one thing that can cleanse it and right our down-turned lives. John Adams knew what that force was and when he was asked if we would triumph in the war over Great Britain, he answered not with a military strategy, numbers, or any other measure of human strength, but with the phrase, “Yes, if we fear God and repent of our sins“.

Folks, I pray that we will follow Adams’ advice, fear God by honoring Him as the King of our lives; repent of our sins to an Almighty God and turn away from those sins; and finally, I pray that we will act.

Technorati Tags: church and state, danbury, ethics, government, morals, religion, vitale

In this nation today, we hear a great deal about a “separation of church and state”. When I ask people where that appears in our founding documents, most people hem and haw and the bolder ones cite “the 1st Amendment”. But neither the word “state” nor the word “separation” are in that Amendment. When I give this reasoning, the answer I get is, “But that’s what they meant“. Isn’t it? How do we know that?

The question – though some still have it – is not whether or not the Founding Fathers were predominantly Christian in their outlook (they were), the question is, “What did they intend when penning the Constitution?”

Today we have a concept called “legislative intent “. This means that the lawmaker puts his or her bill to the assembly and that notes are taken while the lawmaker speaks, rebuts, and answers questions on the bill. In this way, the record (journal) can be referred to and we can discern his or her intent with that bill. Much in the same way, we can look at the record of the constitutional convention (May 14, 1787 – Sep 17, 1787) and find the same thing. Rather than continue to have nine deity-like justices do that for me, I’ve dug through those documents and would like to share what I’ve found in the hopes that you’ll do some digging too.

Isaac Potts relates a story that is common among those who knew George Washington. One day Isaac, a Tory in a family of Tories, came upon Mr. Washington on his knees in the woods giving heartfelt prayer to his Maker. Potts was so touched by what he observed, that he went home and called a family meeting. He said that if a man prayed like that, his prayers would be answered and that he and his family had chosen the wrong side in the conflict. An artist (Brueckner) then painted a picture that we have seen many times, a picture of President Washington in prayer in the woods, with a man peeking ’round a tree at him. The man pictured behind the tree is Mr. Potts’.

Governor Morris was a signer of the Constitution and was the most prolific speaker at the Constitution (he spoke 173 times). He also penned the document, thus he could be considered the “Thomas Jefferson” of this document. Do you think that this man might have a good idea where religion was “intended” to fit in the creation of this new country? Gov. Morris stated, “Religion is the only solid basis of good morals. Therefore education should teach the precepts of religion and the duties of man toward God”. This sounds much like our system of education and religion working together, not the opposite situation we see now.

James Wilson, signer of the Constitution, spoke 168 times at the convention, first appointee to the Supreme Court said, “Human law must rest its authority ultimately upon the authority of that law which is divine. Far from being rivals or enemies, religion and law are twin sisters, friends, and mutual assistants. Indeed, these two sciences run into each other”. In this country a murder conviction was overturned on a technicality. The offense? The prosecuting attorney read a Bible verse in the courtroom. If you mix law and religion today, convicted murders might walk free, but the first appointee to the Supreme Court in this nation, present at the signing, stated that, “these two sciences run into each other”.

Lee v. Weisman states that there may be no prayer at a public school graduation. William Samuel Johnson, signer of the Constitution gave a graduation speech and contained within were these words, “You this day ..have.. received a public education, the purpose whereof has been to qualify you to better serve your Creator and your country.. your first great duties, if you are sensible, are those you owe to heaven, to your Creator and Redeemer”. Then, speaking straight from Acts, he closes with, “Let those be ever present to your minds and exemplified in your lives and conduct.. Students, in Him we live and move and have our being”.

In the group of 56 men that attended the convention there were some interesting stories. Of this group, twenty-four (24) had seminary degrees. Aside from Thomas Jefferson (present at the end of the proceedings) and Benjamin Franklin, all 56 men were actively involved in the faith in some form. Eight (8) years after the convention men from this group were responsible for starting 121 Bible societies. Several exist yet today. Here are some specific notes on several attendees:

• Rev. Dr. John Witherspoon, he was considered the “Billy Graham” of his day
• Sec. Charles Thompson. translated the Thompson version of the Bible
• Benjamin Rush, started the first Bible society in America
• Francis Hopkinson, made a songbook in which all 150 Psalms were set to music
• Abraham Baldwin, a major theologian of his day, was offered a professorship at Yale at age 23, chaplain in the Revolutionary War for 7 years, and founded the Univ. of Georgia
• Charles Cotesworth Pinkney and John Langdon, started the American Bible Society
• James McHenry, started the Baltimore Bible society

As mentioned before, Benjamin Franklin was not involved in religion as much as the rest, in fact, both sides of this debate can agree that he was the least religious of the bunch. In an age where the average age of death was 35, this 81 year-old statesman rose and addressed the convention at a critical point in the proceedings with this short treatise, “In the beginning of the contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers were heard, and they were graciously answered. All of us engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a superintending Providence in our favor. And have we now forgotten this powerful friend? Or do we imagine that we no longer need His assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs the affairs of men. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured in the Sacred Writings that ‘except the Lord build the house. they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel. I therefore beg leave to move that, henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of heaven and its blessing on our deliberation be held in this assembly every morning before we proceed to business”. This from the least religious of the Founding Fathers.

I hope that these anecdotes and notes have proven helpful to you in your search for the truth where the intent and inception of our nation is concerned. Soon I’ll post a second and final post on these notes, and I welcome your comments.

Technorati Tags: church and state, government

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By LTC(RET) Dave Grossman, RANGER,
Ph.D., author of “On Killing.”

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? – William J. Bennett – in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.

Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me, it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell.

Police officers, soldiers, and other warriors are like that shell, And someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.

“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.”

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath, a wolf.

But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed

Let me expand on this old soldier’s excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools.

But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard, and so they chose the path of denial. The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheep dog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.” Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door.

Look at what happened after September 11, 2001 when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed,
right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warrior hood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a
difference.

There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: Slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I’m proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, “Let’s roll,” which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers – athletes, business people and parents. — from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men. – Edmund Burke

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn’t have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.

If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior’s path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to massacre you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, “I will never be caught without my gun in church.” I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a cop he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down fourteen people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy’s body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?”

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for “heads to roll” if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids’ school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them.

Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?”

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up. Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: you didn’t bring your gun, you didn’t train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by your fear, helplessness and horror at your moment of truth.

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation: “…denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn’t so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling.” Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level. And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.

If you are warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be “on” 24/7, for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself…”Baa.”

This business of being a sheep or a sheep dog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other.

Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.