05/06/2009
Many patriotic Americans, including many retired and former military
personnel, are increasingly chagrined at the direction the U.S. armed forces
are taking. For one thing, there were numerous instances in the Clinton and
both Bush administrations when American GIs were required to serve under
foreign or United Nations commanders. Does anyone remember the Michael New case? How can any American GI, who has taken an oath to the U.S.
Constitution, willingly surrender himself to a foreign commander, flag, or
uniform? That is a potential conflict that has caused many to question
modern military service.
Another potential moral conflict in modern military service (at least for
Christians) is the inter-sex training and quartering that is now required in
every branch of military service (except the Marine Corps). To put healthy
young adults of the opposite sex in such close and, many times, compromising
environments is more than problematic for those wishing to stay morally
pure. (Christian parents should know that many state colleges and
universities now require students to live in coed dorms, including using
coed bathrooms and showers.) Add to this President Barack Obama’s
determination to expunge the Department of Defense’s "don’t ask, don’t tell"
policy, thereby allowing open homosexuals to serve in the military. All of
the above has many Christians questioning the wisdom of giving their sons
and daughters to today’s U.S. military.
Another disconcerting element of modern military service is the reality that
today’s American military is more and more being used as the tool of
globalists to forge an international New World Order. For instance, both
Republican and Democratic Presidential administrations will send U.S.
military personnel (including the National Guard) to guard the borders of
foreign countries, but never ask them to protect our own borders. Sending
the National Guard overseas, especially, strains the principles of
constitutional government. But maybe that explains why we have so many
foreign troops on U.S. soil. After all, did President George W. Bush not ask
foreign troops to monitor our borders and skies in the weeks and months
following the attacks on 9/11?
Using U.S. troops as international "peacekeepers" only serves the interests
of the international New World Order; it has nothing to do with protecting
the lives and property of the American people. In fact, an argument could be
made that every war the United States has fought since World War II has been
unconstitutionally waged: for the purpose of fulfilling the globalistic
aspirations of world leaders and not for the defense of the United States.
Accordingly, many Christian parents are hesitant to give their children to
modern military service.
If all of the above is not enough, we read this story from Reuters and One
News Now: "The U.S. military is confirming that it has destroyed some Bibles
belonging to an American soldier serving in Afghanistan.
"Reuters News says the Bibles were confiscated and destroyed after
Qatar-based Al Jazeera television showed soldiers at a Bible class on a base
with a stack of Bibles translated into the local Pashto and Dari languages.
The U.S. military forbids its members on active duty — including those based
in places like Afghanistan — from trying to convert people to another
religion.
"Reuters quotes Maj. Jennifer Willis at the Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul,
who said 'I can now confirm that the Bibles shown on Al Jazeera’s clip were,
in fact, collected by the chaplains and later destroyed. They were never
distributed.'" (Source: OneNewsNow.com, 5/5/09)
For any Christian, this episode highlights a very serious conflict of duty.
Any genuine Christian must take his Lord’s command to "Go ye into all the
world, and preach the gospel to every creature" very seriously. In fact, how
can any Christian not witness to others — whoever they are — of Christ’s
redeeming grace? To refuse to do so amounts to willful rejection of Christ,
in which case, it is doubtful that genuine salvation is even present.
Therefore, how can a Christian dutifully obey his Savior and Lord on the one
hand, while, at the same time, obeying a military order forbidding him or
her from "trying to convert people"? And how could any genuine Christian
chaplain willingly confiscate and DESTROY God’s Holy Word? I could be
mistaken, but I don’t believe even Adolf Hitler burned Bibles. He burned a
lot of books, but I've never read that he burned God’s Word.
Now, no one has more respect and admiration for military personnel than I
do. My dad and his two brothers proudly served their country in World War
II. One brother served in the U.S. Marines and was wounded in the Pacific.
The other served in the Navy, and Dad was selected to work on the Atomic
Bomb. I have a nephew who served in the Marines in Gulf War I, and some of
my closest friends are former, retired, or active-duty military.
I feel the same way about law enforcement personnel. In my youth, law
enforcement was my chosen career. Some of my dearest friends are either
retired or active-duty law enforcement officers. It is a noble profession.
We have to be honest enough to admit, however, that both the U.S. military
and many of our law enforcement agencies are being co-opted by a politically
correct leadership that is in the process of changing the rules of
conduct — not to mention the rules of engagement.
Our military personnel are more and more resembling international policemen,
while our local and state peacekeepers resemble military forces. Neither
bodes well for U.S. sovereignty and independence, or for liberty at home.
When we have federal police agents, with no justification or authority,
brutally beating an innocent pastor; when FBI agents use the Patriot Act to
seize an obviously innocent teen-age boy from his home, and then afford him
no constitutional rights; when U.S. military personnel are required to wear
U.N. blue and take orders from foreign commanders; when U.S. military
personnel are used as international policemen; when military chaplains are
ordered to not pray in Jesus' name and to confiscate and destroy Bibles; and
when soldiers are commanded to not witness for Christ or share their faith;
then it is apparent that the role of both the U.S. military and law
enforcement are being dramatically altered — and not for the better.
It is for good reason that many Christians (and non-Christians, for that
matter) are looking twice at modern military service. In fact, a retired
high-ranking military officer (whose name I will not divulge) recently told
me, "Chuck, there is no way I could recommend that anyone volunteer in the
U.S. military today."
Obviously, we have a host of honorable men and women of sound character and conviction still serving in both the U.S. military and in various law
enforcement agencies. Thank God!
It is also obvious, however, that the powers that be are quickly "remaking"
(to use Barack Obama’s word) our military and law enforcement agencies into
an image never desired or designed by America’s Founding Fathers. Thus, the
conflict between good men and bad policies will only worsen. And many will
continue to question the wisdom of giving their sons and daughters to modern
military service.
On the other hand, an argument could be made that it is at such a time as
this that good men are all the more needed in the U.S. military and in law
enforcement. That is a very valid argument, by the way: as long as those
good men realize what they will be required to risk when their superiors
order them to surrender allegiance to the Constitution or to sacred
principle. But then again, we are all required to share in that risk, are we
not?
Dr. Chuck Baldwin is the pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. He hosts a weekly radio show. His website is here.