America's Thermopylae

 

I think that a red wave in America is essential to our way of life, but not the answer.  It’s a hold at all costs until reinforcements arrive.  If we lose, then we have failed those in the womb who cannot defend themselves.

If we lose, we will either surrender our right to overthrow a tyrannical government or see the beginning of civil war when the Constitution is set aside.

If we lose, there will be lawlessness on a scale never seen before in this country.

If we lose, there will be no reasoned approach to immigration.  Over 3 years ago, the president proposed a very centrist—perhaps even left-leaning—solution to immigration.  It had more efficacy than anything proposed in my lifetime, but was rejected outright because of hatred of our president.

If we lose, the fear generated by the present pandemic will be continued to accomplish greater government control.  Will we be a living being created in the image of God or only a carrier of the contagion of the year?  Again, we will surrender our liberties without a whimper or see civil war attempting to reclaim what was paid for in blood time and time again for almost two and a half centuries.

If we lose, the taxes that provoked the Boston Tea Party will seem reasonable compared to what is to come.  We may still keep the title of Republic, but we will be taxed into socialism, and what little discretionary income you have will not be worth much.

If we lose, expect much of those taxes to be sent to those who hate America.  Appeasement is just the first sign of surrender.

If we lose, expect your freedom of religion to be revoked.  You will be assigned your religion.  For those Christians who truly seek God and his kingdom and his righteousness, you will truly know what it is to be a stranger in this world.

If we lose, expect history to be redacted at even a greater pace than we are now witnessing.  We will have nothing historical upon which to base our decisions.  We will have only what the Ministry of Truth sees fit to give us.

If we lose, expect that not only will some big-ticket items in our Constitution be ignored, but also the more subtle ones such as the prohibition on states and the federal government against bills of attainder and ex post facto laws.  If the government doesn’t like you, it can declare that you or your actions present or past are illegal and take everything from you, including your life.

If we lose, the lives of black people, brown people, or white people won’t matter.  The only lives that matter will be those in power and they will become royalty.  The promises made to people of color will fade quickly as they always have when the left promises to fix anything of value.  Sure, there will be a token act or speech or extra federal holiday, but the needs of people of color will be discarded quicker than a dirty diaper.

BLM and Antifa will continue to some extent.  They are terrorist organizations desiring to destroy this nation and our family values.  They will lose many of their allies on the left as they have served their purpose and are disposable.

I could go on.  There is much at stake here.  Normally, the election cycle that we have experienced every four years for our lifetimes, takes us a little left or a little right or leaves us gridlocked in the middle.  This time, it is about the life or death of our Republic.

It is about the liberty and legacy that we leave our children’s children.

I know that many have stopped reading long before this point.  We have lost the art of civil discourse.  I am sure that hateful remarks already abound.  I will leave them unanswered. We have surrendered the sound mind that God gave us for the simplistic meme that gratifies our emotions.

But for those who have made it this far, consider my opening statements.

I think that a red wave in America is essential to our way of life, but not the answer.  It’s a hold at all costs until reinforcements arrive. 

A red wave is essential but not the answer.  We must hold until reinforcement arrive. 

Well, just who are those reinforcements?

It’s not the Marines.  It’s not the cavalry.  It’s not even the militiamen.  It is the nation that repents of its godless ways at the individual and family level and returns to God.  Evil is assembling for a final assault, one that the forces of this world will not hold off for long.  Only revival will bring about the righteousness that God desires.

In that regard, we are the 300 at Thermopylae.  We must hold off for as long as we can for the reinforcements we need do not presently exist.   Only a nation that seeks God at the grassroots level can form such an army that comes to rescue this nation which though never perfect sought to become more perfect with each generation.

The only hope for this nation lies in the hearts of its citizens.  This election is the Thermopylae of American hope.  Without Thermopylae, there could have never been a Marathon.

The remnant that remains must help lead those who have abandoned the church because it hurt their feelings by sticking to the word of God to come home. 

The church which the gates of hell will not overcome must take words of life to the lost. 

Yeah, ok, but I can’t stand Trump.

This is less about a man who is often crude (though for some that is all that it is about) but who seeks the best for America or a gentle-looking grandfather figure who has trouble forming sentences but will do what he is told.  It’s about taking enough seats in our legislature to stop the insanity of trying to unseat a president who was properly elected and not owned by any party or lobby.

President Trump has disrupted the slow surrender to becoming a godless nation.  He has put everything on the table.  Many hate him for it because it was so easy for us to turn a blind eye to a little corruption here and there, and more here and there, and on and on.  It was easier to be lulled into mindless submission than face the truth about the course on which we had been on for decades.

Like him or hate him, he has forced us to put the essence of who we are on the table, and at the heart of the November election. 

Much of it is politics as usual, but much more is good versus evil.  A red wave in November is not victory.  It is a chance for victory.  It gives us a chance to stop much of the godlessness being woven into the fabric of our modern society by the twin gods of apathy and ambivalence, while the faithful few lead many to the Lord. 

Victory will only come in the Lordship of Jesus.  We must set aside our gods of emotion, pity, shame, hatred, insistence on our own way, and cowardice.

Yes, if you are deserting the church now, you worship the god of cowardice. You magnify the specks in the eyes of believers and ignore the lumber yard in your own eyes.  Those who comprise the church all far short of the glory of God but we do not desert God when things get tough or the meme of the day sounds much better than love one another, which requires action on our part.

Liking and sharing a meme gives our minds time off and has a narcotizing function on us so that we think we have accomplished something.  Occasionally, the meme is on the mark and a stopped analog watch is right twice a day.  Most of the time, the emotional like and share without considering what is proffered only serves the Father of Lies. 

We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and live out our faith. We turn to each other with an iron sharpens iron attitude seeking God’s will not emotional satisfaction.  That does not mean that you will not find peace in this process.

OK, let’s get back to November.  You may not like Trump, but you may need to tolerate him and his rough edges for 4 more years.  You may not like most Republicans, but you should pray they have control of both houses of the legislature for the next 4 years.

This is not a victory for the Republican party.  This is a chance for victory for American. 

Should we hold at Thermopylae long enough for revival in this nation, I see a revitalized Democratic Party in 4 years—one that is reconstituted as the party of the people.

Should we hold at Thermopylae long enough, I see a revitalized Republican party in 6 years—one that promotes smaller government and fiscal responsibility.

Should we not hold at Thermopylae, neither party will exist in 4 years.  We will either give in to the government knows best for everything in our lives or be in the middle of a civil war.  We will never have our Marathon.

Christians will be meeting in secret but still taking the good news to our neighbors for the world will have claimed them as their own and our mission and commission is unchanged.  In some ways the destruction of America may bring some to Christ, but it’s not the world we will want to live in.

So, is this a political article or a religious article?  The answer is it is an article about your grandchildren.  Will they live in an America that celebrates them worshiping God or tells them which god to worship and how?

We cannot legislate ourselves into becoming a Christian nation.  It doesn’t work that way, but through revival and courage among believers we could become a nation of Christians. 

That would be a victory.  That would be victory in Jesus.  That would be the best inheritance we could give our children’s children.

But first, we must hold long enough at Thermopylae. 

 

The Post Script…

I provided many links to many sources in this article, but not to those about Thermopylae, the 300, or Marathon.  I didn’t even use the word Nike!

For those who continued to the end, it’s likely that I didn’t need to include them.  For those who quit early, they likely would consider them irrelevant as they never came across them in the course of their education.  Imagine having $100,000 in student debt loans and not knowing the story of Thermopylae that most learned before graduating high school.

We don’t have to look nearly 2500 years into the past for our model.  One hundred years ago will suffice.  Consider the report of First Lieutenant Clifton B. Cates to his commanding officer in WWI France.

"I am in an old abandoned French trench bordering on the road leading out of your P.C. and 350 yards from an old mill. I have only two men out of my company. We need support, but it is almost suicide to try and get it here as we are swept by machine-gun fire and a constant barrage is on us. I have no one on my left and only a few on my right. I WILL HOLD.”

He couldn’t advance but he would hold.  That has to be our mindset in November.  We must have a red wave.  It’s not victory, but gives us a chance for real victory.

I will hold!

Why I will vote Republican in this Age of Confusion

Not long ago, I asked online what the Democratic Party stood for—I had been reading a Hate Trump sort of post.  I got one vanilla reference to a third-party sight that at least mentioned some differences between the two parties, but I have yet to hear a Democrat articulate their objectives, save get elected and impeach Trump. 

I grit my teeth whenever I think about Americans of any party seeking to overthrow a legal election by circuitous and subversive means. There is a presidential election in 2 more years.  If you don’t like the president—even if you hate him—the Constitutional way to overthrow our Chief Executive is already in place in 2020.   I still ask for someone to state with clarity what the Democratic Party really wants for this nation.

Taking that into consideration, I thought I should hold myself to the same standard and enumerate what the Republican Party stands for.  This is my list, which is surely not comprehensive but at least hits 10+ main areas.  Some of these are less Republican Party goals as they are Donald Trump goals.  The latter are annotated below.

I will state in advance that I am not happy with the Republicans sticking to traditional values.  Too many have sold out, especially at the fiscal responsibility level.  At the national level, I still lean right of center on most issues, especially considering some of the anti-American rhetoric from the left, but I should be able to state why.

Here’s my list.

God is welcome

National Defense

Strict Construction of the Constitution

Value Individual Liberties provided in Bill of Rights

Value life from inception to death

Smaller Government

Fiscal Responsibility

Jobs back to America - Trump

Immigration Reform - Trump

Lower Taxes

Reasonable Health Care - Trump

American Uniqueness – Without the USA who will be a light unto the world?

Distinct Separation of Powers—Namely removing judges that usurp legislative and executive power

Civility and Statesmanship

Providing Opportunities for Success over Handouts

Free Markets over Socialism

The time has come

It’s been a while since I did more than like a stop hating Trump or Love America more than you hate the President post, but the time has come.

I love this nation and love having served as an officer of this most blessed country as a United States Marine, and I would truly love for the goodness that I have known for over half a century to continue to my children’s children and beyond.

But we are facing a national identity crisis.  Who are we?  Who are these people who hold elected office?  Will we continue as a nation that has long been a light unto the world?

To answer these questions, I have to proffer what might seem to be politically motivated, but it is not.  It is motivated by patriotism and mercy.  What is?

This November, we must vote Republican at the federal level.  The Democratic Party must be decimated at the polls. 

Whoa!  That sounds very political.  I’m not reading any farther.  Let’s think this through first. 

I like the Democratic Party.  This was the party of my parents.  It was considered the party of the people.  Sadly, that party is dead.  It does not exist anymore.

It has become a party governed by a destroy Trump agenda.  It is a party that looks to its past failures instead of ahead to a good future for our nation.  It is a party that has abandoned the truth in search of overturning a legal election in which the outcome went contrary to the hopes of the party.

In previous years, a lost election was cause for self-examination, revision, and revitalization.  “Hey, we lost this one but will get them next time.”  It is a healthy model.

Sadly, today the Democratic Party seeks to overturn the constitutionally elected administration by any means necessary.  This is not healthy.  This is not American.  This is a third world model!

The Democrats must lose and lose big in November.  This does two main things.  It gives the country a chance to receive the benefits of the 2016 election results, something the Democratic Party has attempted to thwart by hook or crook, or both.

Here’s the kicker.  This will be good for the Democratic Party.  At least it will be an opportunity to reset.  Do most Democrats want socialism?  I doubt it.  They may want more government involvement in programs and problem solving than the Republicans, but I seriously doubt that more than a very vocal few want socialism.

The Democratic Party must take its November defeat and remake itself, much more in the image of the traditional party that was known as the Party of the People, not the party of things anti-Trump or anti- American.  Democrats are Americans!  I don’t know any who want to see our country dissolved by some of the current party’s agenda. 

The reformed Democratic Party needs to resume its place somewhat left of center and serve as a balance to the right-leaning Republicans.  This is healthy!  This is needed!  This is completely absent from the current party.

A huge Republican victory in November will preserve our republic for a bit longer and give cause to reform the Democratic Party closer to those who are tired of hating President Trump more than they love America. 

Sadly, the Republican victory will put the Republican Party on the slow track for reform, for this party has lost its way as well.  Fiscal responsibility was once a given for those leaning to the right.  That is no longer the case.  Smaller government and lower taxes have been the ideals of this party in past years, but even those goals are compromised. 

Republicans need to win in November because Democrats are seeking to destroy Trump and don’t care if they take down the country in the process; but Republicans had better get their act together and live faithful to the model which elected them.

Both parties have failed.  Elected officials grow wealthy in office instead of serving the people.  Bureaucracy thwarts the will of the people and rejects the rule of law.  We have taken a wonderful model of representative government, grown lazy, and let it mutate into a modern-day tyrant. 

Can it be fixed?  I pray it is possible, but we must be willing to put forth sustained effort at the electorate level to do this.  Here are my steps to returning to a government of the people, by the people, and most certainly for the people.

1.        Republicans must win in a landslide in November.

2.       Democrats must reform their party based upon a solid left of center vision.  All destroy Trump efforts must cease and be replaced by positive objectives.

3.       If Democrats lose and reform, Republicans will take significant losses in 2020.

4.       Republicans must reform into a solid right of center, fiscally responsible, strong national defense party once again.

5.       The American electorate must vote out career politicians for the next century. 

6.       The power of the American bureaucracy must be obliterated.  Amateur politicians—let’s use the term statesmen or representatives—are needed but must not be consumed by entrenched bureaucrats.

7.       All must be Americans first, and their party affiliation second.  Yes, this applies even and especially when you candidate did not win.

Balance is a good thing.  We seldom achieve it, but we witness the pendulum of political leanings sway back and forth so that we don’t go too far either way.  That is at risk today.  The Democratic Party—yes the party of my parents that perhaps was once truly the party of the people—is on a course to destroy things good and moral and patriotic.

Our liberty that we say we cherish will go next.  I am not willing to see what God has blessed for almost two and one-half centuries go down without a fight.

We need to return to a mindset where the good of the country took precedence over winning at all costs.

Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.

John F. Kennedy

We must get back to this sort of patriotism.  I wish that we could do it overnight but believe it will be tougher course.  I pray that we will stay the course and preserve this Republic.  I want my children’s children to know its blessings and have their own opportunities to preserve them for their posterity.

Do you hate President Trump so much that you want peace to fail?

It is hard to believe that so many are finding so many ways to hate President Trump at the expense of the American people, peace, and general civility.  Understand, that if North Korea proceeds on the course that it has for the past 3 decades and initiates war or brings this country to the point where we must be preemptive to save American citizens from a weapon of mass destruction, there is no surgical option.

North Korea is always poised for the invasion of the southern peninsula.  A preemptive strike against a single or multiple missile launch sites will trigger this massive assault on the south.  That means that a preemptive strike must kill North Korean combatants by the tens of thousands, making the United States appear to be a warmonger without regard for human life. 

Failure to preempt a nuclear strike on our own soil or that of an ally will also result in casualties in the tens of thousands.  These will be Americans and our allies. 

Now that President Trump has brought the North Korean dictator to the negotiating table through American strength, let’s pray that he achieves what we never achieved with this regime.  The president may have to walk away from this meeting if the North Koreas try to pull what they have always done in the past, but the North Korean leader knew that going in.

His overtures appear to be much sincerer than anything the world has see since the peninsula was divided at the 38^th parallel. Should we not desire success by our president.  That would be success not only for America and the Korean people, but for the region, and the world. 

If you must hate the President, then hate him, but quit hating the good things that he is doing.  The man has some rough edges.  I get that.  We have had presidents like that before, but not in the age of media addiction that we now endure.

Of all of the places where I have served, the Korean peninsula is the last place that I would actually want to fight a war.  I’m too old to serve now, but my empathy is for the soldiers and Marines that would be put in harm's way because so many hated President Trump so much that they prayed for peace to fail and had so little regard for the blood of those who would advance towards the sound of gunfire.

There is a very good possibility that this summit with the North Korean leader will fail.  That is the history between our nations.  The odds are against success. Let that sink in.  The odds are against success. 

If it fails this time—and look closely and compliance and verification agreements—don’t expect spin doctoring as in the past.  Expect to go back to preparing for the worst.  So why not pray for, root for, and hope for peace in this region.  Do you really hate one man so much that you callously put forth the blood of young men and women who will give their lives so readily?

The people of North Korea are oppressed.  A war to liberate them will kill hundreds of thousands of Koreans and Americans.  Liberty and a better life will come through connections made in business and commerce.  Christianity moving north on the peninsula will do more than a thousand precision strikes and megatons of carpet bombing. 

We can get angry with our neighbors to the north and south or in Europe and not even think about going to war with them.  Why?  Because we are connected on so many levels.  We are connected.  North Korea is disconnected from most of the world.

If you must hate President Trump by whatever it is that drives you to hate, then hate him, but quit—please quit—rooting for the failure of the good things that he is doing.  Americans once—until now, always—pulled together when confronting an enemy or potential enemy.  We set aside differences for a time so that we could continue to disagree at some later point.  Unity took hold at the water’s edge.

Are we so petty in our hatred that we will set aside a genuine chance at peace in this region?  Are we so myopic that we would rather see 50,00 American and allied casualties than see President Trump negotiate a win-win deal with a dictator that has always dealt from the bottom the deck until now?

It is hard to believe that even China has been brought into the arena that is pushing for peace.  China knows that stability on the Korean peninsula lessens the drain on our resources.  In a true Machiavellian sense, continued tension between North Korea and America is to their benefit.  I don’t think that America and China will be friends in this polycentric world, but we are moving towards not being enemies and doing things that are for the greater good.

If hate for one man must drive your life, please get out of the lane that prays for peace, values the safety of those forward deployed and ready to go on a moment’s notice, and those that long to see America as a light in a dark world once again.

If you must hate the president, please do it without hating America at the same time.

I am not asking you to stop pursuing what you desire for this nation, only that hate does not supersede a chance for peace.  I doubt that we will see another window of opportunity like the one that is before us.  Strength and resolve brought us to this point.  Let’s not waste it.  The world will not know peace until the Lord returns, but in the meantime, let’s get behind making this one part of our planet safer for all of us.