It has been a tough year for our soldiers on a number of fronts: physical, literal, spiritual, domestic, psychological and financial. They are weary, and not because they are weak. They have had to contend with “enemies, both foreign and domestic,” with no end in sight. I am convinced that the “domestic” ones actually have more ability to harm them than those on foreign soil, and the wounds have potentially eternal consequences.
Here is some of what they have faced in 2014:
Cadets at the Air Force Academy ran into trouble with those who don’t want them to have any public display of their faith in their personal quarters, and who attempted to censor any scriptures, and in some cases, just generic inspirational sayings that they had written on their whiteboards.
The R and R facilities run by the Navy were forced to remove any copies of Gideon Bibles that might be lurking in the drawers of bed stands. Surely the Good Book, (recently referred to by their Commander in Chief,) was waiting to pounce upon the unsuspecting, the dastardly result possibly being that the Scriptures might give them comfort, insight direction, wisdom, or perish the thought, a saving faith in the One who said, “In the volume of the book it is written of Me.”
Chaplains were subjected to that which psychologically is reminiscent of what used to occur in Siberian Gulags, and is without qualification tantamount to the “re-education,” of the Cold War. All of this was accomplished under the cloak of multiculturalism. They were also forbidden to pray in the name of Jesus, even for the dying who requested it. This was the first year that Atheists were commissioned as Chaplains in the Armed Forces, a job description for an officer that would be laughable if it weren’t so disturbing.
A fellow by the name of Bergdahl was traded for 5 terrorists formerly held at Guantanamo under more than suspicious circumstances. Many feel he should be tried for treason, and while there was a temporary donnybrook over the prisoner exchange, the mystery surrounding his return from the Taliban has vanished from sight, and he has gone back to business as usual.
It looks like the total fiasco that was Benghazi, something that New York Times bestselling author Aaron Klein told us live in Jerusalem and in his book, “The REAL Benghazi Story: What The White House And Hilary Don’t Want You To Know” is just going to go away. There are no words for the kind of damage that kind of thing does to the morale of our troops.
Let’s contrast these assaults on our soldiers with something that many today would find unthinkable. A little over a century ago, Teddy Roosevelt made sure that soldiers who were getting ready to set sail for battle in the waning years of World War I received a copy of the New Testament at War Department expense.
On the inside, the following was inscribed, wherein Roosevelt said:
“Remember: the most perfect machinery of government will not keep us as a nation from destruction if there is not within us a soul. No abounding material prosperity shall avail us if our spiritual senses atrophy. Walk humbly; you will do so if you study the life and teachings of the Savior, walking in His steps.”
How did we get here from there? That is a discussion for another edition of All Things Soldier, but I think that it is at least prudent to consider the possibility that our soldiers are in not-so-good-shape because their lifeline has been cut by those who are supposed to “have their six.” God help them, and let Him use you.
By: Ali Elizabeth Turner
