[Peace-discuss] Fw: [vfp-all] How To Demilitarize Your Church

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Subject: [vfp-all] How To Demilitarize Your Church


  
How To Demilitarize Your Church

http://www.lewrockwell.com/vance/vance187.html

by Laurence M. Vance
November 11, 2009

Veterans Day is one of those holidays, along with Memorial Day and 
the Fourth of July, when it isn't safe for non-imperial Christians 
who think the state should be separated from the church to attend 
church on the Sunday before one of these holidays. Especially 
troublesome is when one of these holidays, or Flag Day, actually 
falls on a Sunday.

In many churches, Sunday services on or before these holidays are 
unbearable because they feature, or are wholly devoted to, the 
glorification of the U.S. military. Because the Christian's golden 
calf is the military, it is necessary to demilitarize American churches.

Although the extent to which you can demilitarize your church depends 
on whether you are a pastor or church leader, some other person of 
influence, or just a typical layman, here are some suggestions.

First, recognize the need to demilitarize your church. Although I 
assume that most of you reading this article are opposed to the 
glorification of the military in church (or anywhere else), it is 
still crucial that you educate yourself as to the problems with the 
military ­ its unnecessary size, its bloated budget, its 
inefficiency, its merchants-of-death contractors, its murderous 
mercenaries, its weapons of mass destruction, its unconstitutional 
mission, its inability to protect its own headquarters, its foreign 
interventions, its foreign occupations, its overseas bases and troop 
deployments ­ and just how much the military has pervaded all of 
society. I recommend, first of all, two chapters in my book 
Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State: "The 
Military" and "Christianity and the Military." All of the essays are 
available in my article archive on this website. Since the 
publication the second edition of my book in January of last year, I 
have written many additional articles on the military and 
Christianity and the military. Again, see my article archive on this 
website. Second, see the excellent collection of articles on this 
website by Tom Engelhardt. Third, read Nick Turse's The Complex: How 
the Military Invades Our Everyday Lives (Henry Holt, 2009). And last, 
but not least, see the Chalmers Johnson trilogy: Blowback, The 
Sorrows of Empire, and Nemesis. You must be ready for opposition, and 
not just from veterans. Your whole church may in fact be against you.

Second, there are some practices that you need to stop, or try to get 
others to stop, in order to demilitarize your church. No more turning 
holidays into military appreciation days. No more special military 
appreciation days. No more recognizing current members of the 
military or veterans. No more encouraging current members of the 
military or veterans to wear their uniforms on the above-mentioned 
holidays. No more treating military personnel differently from other 
occupations. No more references to military personnel "serving" in 
the military. No more unspecific and unspecified prayers for "the 
troops in harms way." No more military guest speakers. No more 
justifying service in the military because the Bible mentions 
soldiers. No more "God Bless Our Troops" or "Pray for Our Troops" or 
"Thank a Veteran" slogans on church signs, bulletins, and websites. 
No more equating patriotism with admiration for the military. No more 
calling soldiers returning from overseas heroes. No more blasphemous 
nonsense about the troops dying for our freedoms like Christ died for our sins.

Third, there are some things that you can do to immunize your church 
from something that causes more deaths than swine flu ­ the U.S. 
military. Warn young people about the evils of "serving" in the 
military. And that includes being a chaplain, a medic, or a National 
Guardsman. I would feel like a failure as a parent, a pastor, or a 
youth director if one of my "kids" joined today's military. Here is a 
letter I wrote to a Christian young man about joining the military. 
Instruct people about the true nature of the military. In many cases, 
they are simply just ignorant of the fact that the military is doing 
everything else but defending the United States, securing U.S. 
borders, guarding U.S. shores, patrolling U.S. coasts, and enforcing 
no-fly zones over U.S. skies. Emphasize the need for missionaries to 
be sent to the Middle East instead of U.S. troops. If Christians in 
the United States are so concerned about the threat of Islam, then 
they should do everything they can to convert Muslims to Christianity 
instead of wanting American Christian soldiers to kill them heartily 
in the name of the Lord. Never cease to point out that although God 
in the Old Testament commanded the nation of Israel to fight against 
heathen nations, the president of the United States is not God, 
America is not the nation of Israel, the U.S. military is not the 
Lord's army, the Christian's sword is the word of God, and the only 
warfare the New Testament encourages the Christian to wage is against 
the world, the flesh, and the devil. Pay no attention to military 
advertising slogans like the new one that says the Navy is "A Global 
Force for Good."

Now, none of this means that churches should not reach out to those 
in the military and their families. Nothing I have said precludes a 
church from having a military ministry. Remember, demilitarizing your 
church means treating soldiers just like plumbers, barbers, or truckers.

Because of rampant nationalism, imperialism, and red-state fascism, 
demilitarizing your church won't be easy. But "whether they will 
hear, or whether they will forbear" (Ezekiel 2:7), it is a necessary endeavor.

.


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