My buddy and I stood waiting at the bottom of the
stoop. Sooner or later, we knew the door
would open and it would be showtime.
When it did, I was hit for a moment; the visage of the woman
standing behind the protection of her screen door wasn’t entirely unlike the
one Owen was trying to get Larry to throw from the train. But, it was time to be a man, so I launched
in . . .
The reason we were there was our possession of credible evidence that her son had stolen my baseball glove. Gilbert was there to back me up; although once I got going it wasn’t necessary for him to say anything. I presented my case, and waited for the lady to react the way my Mom would have had it been some other kid standing at our door. What I got next remains one of most unexpected and disturbing encounters I’ve ever had. To my shock and complete bewilderment, she expressed absolutely no interest in determining the truth of my claim, but instead justified her son’s actions had he actually done the deed, saying there was nothing wrong with it because . . .
The reason we were there was our possession of credible evidence that her son had stolen my baseball glove. Gilbert was there to back me up; although once I got going it wasn’t necessary for him to say anything. I presented my case, and waited for the lady to react the way my Mom would have had it been some other kid standing at our door. What I got next remains one of most unexpected and disturbing encounters I’ve ever had. To my shock and complete bewilderment, she expressed absolutely no interest in determining the truth of my claim, but instead justified her son’s actions had he actually done the deed, saying there was nothing wrong with it because . . .
. . . someone had stolen his baseball glove.
I walked away from that encounter in complete disbelief after what I heard. Raised in an environment where you paid Hell’s dues to misbehave, I had lived for 12 years without a single instance where an adult, my parents or otherwise, deliberately excused wrong doing. They might have been guilty of it themselves to one degree or another, but they knew it was wrong, and they most certainly weren’t going smile and pat your head if you did it. On the contrary, you'd get a pat, alright . .
I learned a critical lesson that day, one that actually fit quite well into the grooves of my brain-type, and one that I have applied assiduously ever since: You cannot, under any circumstances whatsoever, give people who are in, or are ostensibly in, positions of authority the power to make binding decisions for you, decisions that you do not retain the power to disregard if they violate what you know is right. If you do, you are a common slave to the whims of another human being who is of no greater importance or worthiness than you. It is a cowardly and disgusting way to live, and has been the cause of more deaths, destroyed lives, mayhem, and discomfiture than any other cause mankind has seen. Eventually, it will manifest itself in the devolving of responsibility onto the person who gave the instruction.
Remember Nuremburg.
I still remember the rot in that woman’s face and
voice. Even at 12, I knew she was a pathetic,
disgraceful woman, some part of her soul eaten away with the lie that one sin
committed justifies another to balance the scales. I carry an image in my head of the bubbling
putrefaction that once might have been her conscience until she gave her
decisions over to the power of emotional reactions instead of reasoning based
on the non-optional principles God has woven into the universe.
Lately, there have been a number of photos showing up on
Facebook, those of military personnel who are hiding their identities behind
signs that essentially state that they did not sign up to fight on behalf of
our declared enemies. Obviously, I
applaud their unwillingness to act like deviants. My only problem with the whole thing is that
they are hiding their faces. They should
be standing in front of about 50 microphones and 200 reporters, but that’s not
the point right now.
I have a young friend, one that I’ve known since he was little more than a toddler, who has grown up to be a serviceman, husband, and father of whom our society would be justifiably proud. He responded to the one example of this sign protest that I posted on my wall with a comment that was well constructed.
I disagree with him, quite strongly in fact. But you are not to take that as me condemning him for his thoughts. I have little problem with people who think wrongly as long as they are actually thinking, and not just spewing their reasonless, emotional blatherings, a la Matthews, Streisand, Baldwin, Warren, et.al. If they’re thinking, the same process that got them wrong can be used to get them right.
I will copy his comment here, and let me make this clear: I am not doing this to hold this young man up for condemnation or ridicule. I do it so that I can answer his reasoning with my own.
In response to my statement that if these “signers” stand together and refuse to obey, we might be onto something, my friend said the following:
I have a young friend, one that I’ve known since he was little more than a toddler, who has grown up to be a serviceman, husband, and father of whom our society would be justifiably proud. He responded to the one example of this sign protest that I posted on my wall with a comment that was well constructed.
I disagree with him, quite strongly in fact. But you are not to take that as me condemning him for his thoughts. I have little problem with people who think wrongly as long as they are actually thinking, and not just spewing their reasonless, emotional blatherings, a la Matthews, Streisand, Baldwin, Warren, et.al. If they’re thinking, the same process that got them wrong can be used to get them right.
I will copy his comment here, and let me make this clear: I am not doing this to hold this young man up for condemnation or ridicule. I do it so that I can answer his reasoning with my own.
In response to my statement that if these “signers” stand together and refuse to obey, we might be onto something, my friend said the following:
So should we ask Soldiers each and every time a conflict arises?
Service members know what they are doing, we are not sheep, we are the wolves. We
Sign up without force to Defend the United States. Every few years we reconfirm
that commitment. We are not
traitorous malcontent nor are we shielding our actions. LEAVE us out of this
and bring your fight to the politicians that make the choices. Was nothing
learned from Vietnam? Must we repeat history? We are only a free nation because
of the willingness of an all-volunteer force that willingly answers every time
we are called upon. Not just when we agree.
My response . .
My response . .
“So should we ask Soldiers each and every time a conflict arises?”
No, we shouldn’t, and I am not aware that our society is doing so.
There is, however, one person who is required both by the Constitution and Almighty God to ask that question every single time, not just when a conflict arises, but when every order is issued: You.
The oath of enlisted American
service personnel reads –
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will
support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies,
foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;
and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the
orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the
Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
The oath requires 6 things of its keeper, none of which are at variance with the others, all of which must be adhered to for the oath to be fulfilled. From this, it is obvious that should the requirement of one necessitate the disobedience of any of the remaining five, the offending requirement cannot be abided. The first 4 are not subject to change or manipulation, regardless of changing environments, and there is nothing in the Constitution that can be regarded as requiring any citizen, civilian or military, to do something that is wrong.
At any given moment when an order is given, the meaning of the Constitution will not vary with the circumstances that occasion the order. Therefore, in regard to the first two requirements of the oath, the only thing that can suborn disobedience is the authority issuing the order.
Again, at any given moment when an order is given, the military member cannot waive his or her loyalty to the Constitution. Therefore, in regard to the second pair of the requirements of the oath, the only thing that can suborn disobedience is the authority issuing the order.
The inescapable, two-fold conclusion: If an American military member fulfills an order that does not support or defend the Constitution or defames it in any way, he or she is guilty of treason, and the only element that can require such disobedience are those given the power to issue orders.
And in the chain of command, no one gets the convenience of ignoring the fact that all right and wrong is strictly the purview of God. It is He that determines what is right and wrong, and no human authority, the Constitution included, can abrogate His judgments regarding human behavior. Ultimately, every word and deed is open to His scrutiny, and we are to make our decisions according to His principles.
This is not arguable.
At the end of this reasoning we find that in the mind and hands of every American military member is the absolute requirement to evaluate every single order they are given to determine if it is keeping with their oath, not in conflict with God’s morality, and to act accordingly.
Hence, my friend, it is you who are required to ask if the
orders are valid every time a conflict arises.
“Service members know what they are doing, we are not sheep, we are the wolves.”
Not all of you. It’s really that simple. The American military is full of humans. As such, it has characters that range from high honor, dignity, and integrity to average Joes to common-place low-lifes. The military has always had, has, and always will have its Audie Murphys and John Stebbinses.
And there are plenty in the ranks that will follow orders without question. Every military has them and they are the most dangerous of all.
“We Sign up without force to Defend the United States. Every few years
we reconfirm that commitment.”
Thank you. That is honorable.
Thank you. That is honorable.
“We are not
traitorous malcontent nor are we shielding our actions.”
No, you’re not, nor did I suggest you or the other members of the military are.
However, the fraud that occupies the White House is and does.
No, you’re not, nor did I suggest you or the other members of the military are.
However, the fraud that occupies the White House is and does.
“LEAVE us out of this and bring your
fight to the politicians that make the choices.”
I didn’t bring you into it. It was the fellows with the signs that did. And you certainly can’t read my page for more than two days and not see I am fully engaged with the politicians.
I didn’t bring you into it. It was the fellows with the signs that did. And you certainly can’t read my page for more than two days and not see I am fully engaged with the politicians.
“Was nothing learned from Vietnam?”
Who are you asking? I did. Don’t obey orders just because they come from authorities. It’s simple: If the orders aren’t in keeping with the dictates of the final authorities, in this case the Constitution and God's word, don’t obey them. And don’t put a sign in front of your face. Stand up to your commanding officer and say, “No, sir. Your order countermands the oath I took and I cannot comply. To do so would be treason.”
Jail? Well, as I understand it, you are willing to die for your country. Is going to jail for your country beyond the pale?
Dishonorable discharge? To be dishonorably discharged from a military that is acting dishonorably is honorable.
Who are you asking? I did. Don’t obey orders just because they come from authorities. It’s simple: If the orders aren’t in keeping with the dictates of the final authorities, in this case the Constitution and God's word, don’t obey them. And don’t put a sign in front of your face. Stand up to your commanding officer and say, “No, sir. Your order countermands the oath I took and I cannot comply. To do so would be treason.”
Jail? Well, as I understand it, you are willing to die for your country. Is going to jail for your country beyond the pale?
Dishonorable discharge? To be dishonorably discharged from a military that is acting dishonorably is honorable.
“Must we repeat history?”
No, but if we keep doing things the same way, we will. Might I suggest doings things differently?
No, but if we keep doing things the same way, we will. Might I suggest doings things differently?
“We are only a free nation because of the
willingness of an all-volunteer force that willingly answers every time we are
called upon. Not just when we agree.”
An all-volunteer force – which is the only moral kind – is not the only reason we have a nation with the degree of freedom we now have, which isn’t very much. The Founders and their colonial contemporaries fought and died – disobeying orders, by the way – fighting a government that wasn’t fractionally as oppressive as the one we face now.
Regardless, we had the same general freedom when military service was required by the draft.
That you willingly answer is honorable and good. Bravo. But an answer does not predicate a particular response. Disagreeing is as much an answer as agreeing. In any event, it is not necessary for you to agree to an action. You merely need to determine if it violates your oath or God’s morality. And that’s the point of the oath – it defines specific parameters within which everyone must operate, and as long as everyone is doing that, there is no need for confrontation. Anyone that goes outside those parameters has no authority at all to the degree he goes outside them, apart from that which is given to them by the weak and the timid.
An all-volunteer force – which is the only moral kind – is not the only reason we have a nation with the degree of freedom we now have, which isn’t very much. The Founders and their colonial contemporaries fought and died – disobeying orders, by the way – fighting a government that wasn’t fractionally as oppressive as the one we face now.
Regardless, we had the same general freedom when military service was required by the draft.
That you willingly answer is honorable and good. Bravo. But an answer does not predicate a particular response. Disagreeing is as much an answer as agreeing. In any event, it is not necessary for you to agree to an action. You merely need to determine if it violates your oath or God’s morality. And that’s the point of the oath – it defines specific parameters within which everyone must operate, and as long as everyone is doing that, there is no need for confrontation. Anyone that goes outside those parameters has no authority at all to the degree he goes outside them, apart from that which is given to them by the weak and the timid.
______________________________________
My
treacherous lady that I referred to? We
have a society that is stretching at the seams with people who think just like
her, people who think that a sin committed here is best answered by committing
a sin over there. With them, gone is
possibility that doing what is right just might bring about the result they
hope for. A child is conceived by rape? Answer the heinous violence committed against one innocent by committing an act of heinous violence against another innocent. After all, if somebody stole your glove, doesn’t that give you the right to comfort your outrage by committing the same crime against somebody who didn’t steal your glove? For many, yes. Let others be forced to buy your victim a new glove.
A person with a particular physical description “A” is attacked by someone with particular physical description “B”, so the answer is for all the “As” to attack all the “Bs” including those who had nothing to do with it all? For many, yes. Let those innocents pay the price for the guilty. The guilty can get square with them at the judgment .
One group of people in another country attack another group of people in that same country, and the answer is to go in with the broad sword of the military and hope you don’t accidentally make the innocent pay with the guilty, in spite of the fact that that virtually never happens?
If I didn’t know better, I’d think that lady with the rasping voice, the collapsed morals, and the fear of everything that moved outside her direct manipulation is the new man standing behind the curtain . . .
