Crap by any other name still stinks

kw: observations, social predators

It was 1974, summertime, and we were praying for the President and the Presidency. It was by then quite evident that President Nixon would soon be impeached, and that he was very, very likely guilty of a number of crimes. For several weeks running the church prayed every Wednesday evening, primarily about this one subject. I learned later that at one of those meetings two visitors (we numbered 400, and visitors were frequent) had been FBI agents. I suppose they left with a good report.

We had two levels of trust to rely on. Firstly, we trusted the rule of law in America, that if impeachment were performed, there was a good chance justice would be done. Secondly, we trusted that God, as the "ruler of the hearts of the kings of the earth", and also the "Prince of peace", was in ultimate control. We did not pray for the President to escape justice, but for proper justice to be done, without prejudice or any "going overboard", in either direction.

Today the news is full of stories about a group calling itself Hutaree; 3,000 news stories just in Google News (Note: this link will get out of date quickly). Their name supposedly means "Christian warrior". Nonsense! It means nothing; it is made up. "Christian warrior" is an oxymoron; a warrior cannot be a Christian, and vice versa. A few Hutaree leaders are manipulative renegades; their followers are fools.

There is a single verse upon which such fools rely, when Jesus told his followers that "from now on when you go, take a sword." It is evident that he was referring to self-defense from bandits they would encounter on their travels (Paul also wrote about "perils from bandits" - 2Cor 11:26). Because within the day, Jesus restrained Peter from using his sword and healed a slave whom Peter had injured, a slave who had been sent to arrest Jesus!

Paul wrote this about policemen (or their First Century equivalent): "For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." - Rom 13:3-4. A policeman is God's servant.

I could go on, for there are many more verses in support of the Roman government, and not a single one that lends support to anyone who would take up arms against that government. And, believe me, the Empire was a much more oppressive system than today's U.S. Government. But since one word to the wise is sufficient, and it is to the wise that I write, the few verses above are enough to show that the term "Christian militia" being bandied about by the press is a misnomer, and that these criminals are no more Christian than was the Unabomber.