Weapons of Mass Destruction

As we remember what happened in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001 there are images that will always tug at our hearts, stories that will always bring tears of pride and deep sorrow to our eyes, and a sense of loss difficult to express.  Describing the permanent blank in the lives of wives, husbands, children, fathers, mothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, brothers and sisters, and friends of those who were taken from us seems impossible.  All who have died since in the resulting conflicts on foreign soil constantly remind us of the real weapons of mass destruction–human beings filled with prejudice born of bitterness, rage, anger, and malice and fueled by hate and selfishness.

On September 11, 2001 heroes rose from the ranks of humanity, and they continue to rise every day since then.  I prefer to think of them more as people that represent what America is at its very roots.  These are men and women who put duty to God and country and their fellow man above themselves and stepped forward to risk life itself to help others and protect the innocent and helpless.  In the process they experienced losses that will haunt them for the rest of their natural lives.  Yet they would willingly step forward again to do what they knew was right, regardless of the cost!

Pictured on the right is my son, Jeremy with his lovely wife Savanna.  He was among the first to enter Iraq and though I feared for his life I was filled with pride to have a son who embodied true patriotism.  James Madison said it this way:  "We have staked the whole future of American civilization, not upon the power of government, far from it.  We have staked the future of all of our political institutions upon the capacity of mankind for self-government; upon the capacity of each and all of us to govern ourselves, to control ourselves, to sustain ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God."  John Witherspoon, member of Congress, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and President of Princeton University identified an American patriot with these words:  "[H]e is the best friend to American liberty, who is most sincere and active in promoting true and undefiled religion, and who sets himself with the greatest firmness to bear down on profanity and immorality of every kind.  Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not [would not hesitate] to call him an enemy to this country."

Pictured on the left is my son Jeff with his lovely wife Tawny and their son, Brody.  Again, in observing my son as a man, and as an American citizen, I am filled with pride to know a man who embodies true patriotism.  Although he did not serve in the military he is no less a soldier fighting for what makes America great.  His character reminds me of the words of Jedediah Morse:  "To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys.  In proportion, as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in the nation . . . in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom.  I hold this to be a truth confirmed by experience, and it follows that all efforts made to destroy the foundations of our holy religion ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness.  Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

Both of these men exhibit a strong faith in Jesus Christ, and they are true disciples.  Jeremy and Jeff believe that the moral principles and precepts contained in Scripture form the basis of all of our civil constitution and most of our laws.  Because they do not neglect the precepts contained in the Bible they are not men given to vice, crime, ambition, injustice, or oppression.  Working hard they have been successful early in life.  Jeff, on the left with Brody on his shoulders is an electrician.  Jeremy, with Eldon perched on his shoulders works at China Lake.  Their wives are women who face the challenges of life as young mothers with amazing confidence and humility.  Bristol, Eldon, and Brody, their children know they are loved, are nurtured by both parents, and will grow up with the Godly influence of parents who love God and each other.  The future of the Bennett family is full of potential and promise.  And that, is the true nature of America!

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stand, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The last sentence of the Declaration of Independence sums things up nicely:  "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred Honor."   There are many men and women in America today who still believe in being true Americans.  Patriots, one and all, they quietly take their places with a strong sense of duty to God and country, stepping forward to do the right thing without reservation or fear.  Some would call them heroes.  They would call themselves Americans.

Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be uncontentious, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.

Titus 3:1-2

Herein lies the difference!  Human beings filled with prejudice born of bitterness, rage, anger, and malice and fueled by hate and selfishness will not and cannot govern themselves, to control themselves, to sustain themselves according to the Ten Commandments of God.  On the other hand, men and women, boys and girls who are obedient, ready for every good deed, unwilling to malign anyone, uncontentious, gentle, and showing every consideration for all men will always stand in sharp contrast to the former.  Since the dawn of man these two forces have clashed.  Until the end of the age of evil, heroic warriors will always be needed to rise up against those fueled by hate and selfishness.  In the return of Jesus Christ alone will the end of these battles come.  Let us pray for His quick return!