But if Bush the decider in chief is determined to multiply his war
crimes by attacking Iran, or giving Israel a green light (or not issuing a red light) to do so with the promise of
U.S. military backup, what can be done to prevent such a war from taking place? I see only one solution: the troops. The
troops? But they are the ones who will be doing the fighting. Exactly. Bush, Cheney, Gates,
Petraeus, the secretaries, under secretaries, and assistant secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and the
members of the Joints Chiefs of Staff won’t be lifting a finger against Iran. Only U.S. troops — the ones who will suffer and bleed and die for a lie —
will be fighting an illegal, immoral war against Iran. But because it is only the troops that will be doing the
dirty work, and because the troops greatly outnumber their commanders in the field and the bureaucrats in the
Pentagon, and because it’s impossible for the American people to support the troops in their war effort if the
troops themselves refuse to prosecute the war — the troops refusing to fight is the only sure-fire way to prevent a
war with Iran. Now, for this to happen, it is apparent that the hearts and minds of the
troops must be changed. The troops need to see that Iran is not a threat to the United States, that Iran is not a
threat to Israel, that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon, that Iran is perfectly justified if it obtained a
nuclear weapon, that the U.S. military is stretched to the breaking point, that the president has no constitutional
authority to begin a war with Iran, and that the American people will support them in their decision. The troops
need to see that an attack on Iran would be unnecessary, unwise, unjust, illegal, immoral, and in violation of the
Constitution they swore to uphold. It would be anything but fighting to defend our freedoms. The troops need to see
that attacking Iran perverts the purpose of the military. Defending the United States against attack or invasion is
admirable; attacking and invading foreign countries is not. In defense of the United States, the U.S. military
should guard U.S. borders, patrol U.S. coasts, and enforce no-fly zones over U.S. skies. It should not do these
things in other countries, and should certainly not induce other countries to do these things because of a threat
by the United States. The troops need to see that American foreign policy is responsible for much evil throughout
the world. It is contrary to the wise, noninterventionist foreign policy of the Founding Fathers. So contrary in
fact that the Founders wouldn’t recognize what their constitutional, federated republic has become. Fighting an
offensive, foreign war perpetuates an evil U.S. foreign policy. The troops need to see that they are the ones who
will be responsible for waging an unjust war. They are the ones who will be dropping the bombs and firing the
bullets. They are the ones who will be doing the wounding and killing. They are the ones who will be destroying
property and infrastructure. The troops need to see that there are some orders that they just shouldn’t obey — even
if they come directly from their commander in chief. Why is it that Americans insist that German soldiers should
have disobeyed any commands to kill Jews, but that American soldiers should always obey their superiors? In
reality, however, Americans really don’t believe that all orders should be obeyed. If an American soldier were
ordered to kill the president or to kill his mother, we would condemn him if he obeyed. What we really expect of
our soldiers is to unconditionally obey any order that involves the killing of any foreigner in any country. But
this is something that no soldier with an ounce of morality should do. If the troops don’t see these things, then
war with Iran will come should the president be dumb enough, and evil enough, to order an attack, an invasion, a
regime change, or a preemptive strike. But if the troops do see these things, war with Iran will be impossible.
Bush, or any future president, can try to lie the country into war as much as he wants, but the troops refusing to
fight an unjust war will prevent any conflict from occurring. If a U.S. soldier really wants to be a hero, he
should refuse to fight in any foreign war. “Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person”
(Deuteronomy 27:25). -- HOW TO PREVENT A WAR WITH
IRAN by Laurence M. Vance 7/14/08
** Please Give Page Time To Load **
Biblical And Natural Law Principles Regarding War
In this message, Pastor Baldwin explains the Biblical
and Natural Law principles of both just and unjust war. Several Biblical passages are used to
demonstrate the principles of Just War, including examples from the lives of Abram, Gideon, Barak,
Samson, Jephthah, and David. Unjust wars of the Bible are also referenced and discussed.
Pastor Baldwin also cites important principles of
Natural Law as written in Emer de Vattel's monumental work "The Law Of Nations" (published in
1758). This book along with John Locke's "Two Treatises Of Government" (published in 1689) were the
two works that most influenced the writing of America's Declaration of Independence and federal
constitution.
Nations that recklessly ignore God's immutable laws
regarding Just War are destined to incur the judgment of God. America will NOT be the exception to
this rule. America's evolution into a global empire since the end of World War II has only
augmented the propensity of America to entangle itself more and more frequently and more and more
deeply into the political affairs of foreign countries--which leads America to fight more and more
unjust wars in the name of protecting its global empire. (Cont. Nxt Column)
(Cont.) Sadder still is the way that a majority of America's pastors and preachers seem to
have no cognizance of God's Natural and Scriptural laws regarding Just War and, therefore, are
often the country's biggest cheerleaders for unjust wars.
This message has to be among the rarest messages in
21st century America. But, without a doubt, it is one of the most important messages that
Christians--and the civil magistrates they elect to public office--should hear.
The Crime Of Aggression: Condemned By The Law Of Nature And Nature’s
God
The Crime of Aggression is the most serious crime a
nation can commit. The condemnation of this crime is rooted in both Natural and Biblical Law. The
preparation for committing this crime almost cost David his kingdom. In judgment upon David for
planning this crime, God destroyed seventy thousand men, and had David not repented, the nation of
Israel itself would have been destroyed.
Sadly, almost no preacher even deals with this subject, and almost no
Christian has ever heard it explained. Yet it is one of the most important laws dealing with
nations in the entire Bible. From the murderous act of aggression via government-sanctioned
abortion to murderous acts of aggression via government-sanctioned perpetual, preemptive war, the
U.S. continues to violate this greatest-of-all national sins. God will NOT withhold His judgment on
such a nation forever.
In this DVD, Dr. Baldwin explains this almost
forgotten and extremely important Biblical and Natural Law doctrine. This is a message you will
likely hear nowhere else.
Calm And Courage In A 9/11 World
LibertyFellowshipMT
Published on Sep 10, 2018
400 Prophets of Ahab;1 Prophet of
GOD
This message was preached by Pastor Chuck Baldwin on Sunday, September 2, 2018 during the service at Liberty
Fellowship. To purchase a copy of this message or to support the fellowship please visit
LibertyFellowshipMT.com
More
False Flag Attacks Are Coming In Prelude To War With Syria And Iran
Chuck Baldwin - August 30, 2018
While Democrats and Republicans are acting out their ongoing left-right charade
for the distraction of the American people, the real agenda of the gamemakers in charge of both parties in
Washington, D.C., progresses without notice. That agenda, of course, is WAR.
Perpetual war is what drives both
America’s economic and political interests. And Donald Trump has already proven himself to be a fully controlled
toady of the military-industrial complex by carrying out two military attacks on Syria (not to mention ongoing
missile attacks, drone attacks, bombings, etc., all over the Middle East), both of which were clearly predicated on
phony false flag chemical attacks blamed on the Syrian government but were actually launched by U.S./Israel/Saudi
Arabia/Great Britain-backed terrorists, such as ISIS, al-Nusra, White Helmets, etc. Well, the signs are ubiquitous
that more false flag chemical attacks are on the way.
Many foreign news sources have
investigated and reported on the phony evidence justifying America’s constant use of military force, but the
American people are never told any of this by our own national media, as it is nothing more than a propagandist
mouthpiece for the Washington War Machine. Right now, the foreign media is abuzz with the signs of another false
flag chemical attack on the horizon, giving Donald Trump the “justification” in launching new attacks against
Syria.
In a move that was entirely
predictable, the US administration is once again threatening to bomb Syria if there is a “chemical weapons
attack.”
This was entirely predictable
because that chemical attack script has been read out, with salty crocodile tears, fake concern, and mocked
indignation by US talking heads over the years - since 2012, in fact, when former US President Obama himself
drew his red line on Syria.
The latest script-reader to toe the
chemical hoax line is President Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, who on August
22,stated: “...if the Syrian regime uses chemical weapons we will respond very
strongly and they really ought to think about this a long time.”
Beyond the tattered veil of moral
superiority that is US war propaganda, Bolton's words were clearly a very publiccommand to Al-Qaeda and co-extremists to stage yet another fake chemical attack.
Bolton's statement was preceded by
an August 21 France-UK-US (FUKUS)joint statement, likewise threatening further illegal bombing of Syria if a chemical attack
in Syria occurred (based on evidence the US never has nor needs to reveal).
Recall that the last time they
acted on such a threat, in April 2018, the US and its interventionist alliesdidn't even wait for the Douma lie to be exposed, let alone for any mythical evidence
to materialize, before they illegally bombed Syria with 103 missiles. The bombings occurred before the
Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) had a chance to visit the Douma sites in
question.
It seems that FUKUS' appetite for
destroying Syria wasn't satiated in April 2018, nor in the April 2017 bombings of Syria following
unsubstantiated allegations around Khan Sheikhoun, Idlib.
Bolton's assertions are backed by
the usual suspects of the corporate media, fake human rights groups, “media activists”,
and individuals linked to NATO's Atlantic Council war propaganda think tank.
Chemical weapons accusations are
among the most overused war propaganda tactics during the war on Syria. From late 2012 to April 2018, NATO's
mouthpieces have screamed bloody chlorine or sarin. But time and again, they've been revealed as
intellectually-challenged, supremely-unoriginal liars, to put it politely. Less shrill voices have pointed out
the many occasions where so-called “rebels” had access to sarin, control over a
chlorine factory, and motives for an attack to occur, among other prudent points.
Some of the more loudly blasted
claims were: March 2013, in Khan al-Assal, Aleppo; August 2013, in eastern Ghouta areas; April 2017, in Khan
Sheikhoun, Idlib; and April 2018, in Douma, eastern Ghouta.
ADAM VS THE MAN is back with videos M-F.
Live on Facebook Mondays at 6pmPT.
facebook.com/adamcharleskokesh http://patreon.com/adamvstheman
Conscientious
Objection Don't Be A Pawn In Their NWO
Game
Definition of Conscientious Objection
Current military policy has defined conscientious objection as
the following: “A firm, fixed, and sincere objection to participation in war in any
form or the bearing of arms, by reason of religious training and/or belief.” (DOD
1300.6)
Want to help me finally free America from the federal government? http://KokeshForPresident.com
Get the MOST IMPORTANT BOOK EVER for FREE in every format including audiobook
athttp://thefreedomline.com/freedom Please support FREEDOM! by liking and sharing this
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Why This Marine Is Leaving
The Military!
AdamKokesh Published on May 4, 2018
Adam
talks with friend and consciousness objector Andrew.
Want to help me finally free America from the federal government? http://KokeshForPresident.com
Get the MOST IMPORTANT BOOK EVER for FREE in every format including audiobook
athttp://thefreedomline.com/freedom Please support FREEDOM! by liking and sharing this
video, subscribing, and sharing! Then for everything else:http://TheFreedomLine.com
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The Morality of Conscientious Objection
RonPaulLibertyReport Streamed live on Nov 23, 2015
Do soldiers have an obligation to
fight even illegal wars? In the era of an all-volunteer military the question is
not often asked. Nevertheless, what happens when the government breaks its end of
the contract and goes to war in an unconstitutional manner? Former US Air Force
Captain Justin Pavoni joins the Liberty Report with his experiences as a
conscientious objector.
Two Conscientious Objectors from the Air Force Tell Their
Story
Justin Pavoni Published on Nov 28, 2015
Justin and Jessica Pavoni join Tom
Woods on his podcast to discuss conscientious objection.
Tom Woods is a libertarian thought-leader.
Read more from Tom atwww.TomWoods.com
Jessica and Justin Pavoni are former Air Force pilots that left the military as
conscientious objectors. They are contributors to the Ron Paul Institute for Peace
& Prosperity and AntiWar.com. They also run their own blog
atwww.libertybug.org
May 8, 2014 – Justin and Jessica Pavoni – The Scott
Horton Show
Scott Horton Published on Jan 21, 2018
Justin and Jessica Pavoni, both Air
Force pilots and conscientious objectors, discuss their intellectual awakening that
motivated them to apply for CO status; their desire to protect the country after
9/11; and their service experiences and disillusionment with the War in
Afghanistan.
Libertarian policy scholars and
bloggers talked about various aspects of their push for less government. They
discussed fiscal policy, conscientious objection to compulsory military service,
and the financing of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Speakers:
Paul-Martin Foss Jessica
Pavoni John
Sharpe Brian McGlinchey
Ali Won His Greatest Fight
RonPaulLibertyReport Streamed live on Jun 6, 2016
Muhammad Ali's refusal to be drafted
for the Vietnam War was said by some to be his greatest, self-imposed, defeat. With
the passage of time -- and so many more wars -- history may tell a very different
story. What was the impact of Ali's stance on the war?
The Center on Conscience & War is a non-profit organization that advocates for
the rights of conscience, opposes military conscription, and serves all
conscientious objectors to war.
[By Chuck Baldwin] Published: Thursday, June 20, 2019
Trade a Democrat for a Republican;
trade a liberal for a conservative: It doesn’t matter. The War Party remains in charge either way. The people who
thought they were voting for Donald Trump because he would extricate America from these endless foreign wars should
realize by now that he is just another wuss for the War Party.
Now Trump is sending 1,000 troops
to Russia’s border in Poland. He is sending an additional 1,000 troops (the real number could be 5 or 10 times
that) to the Middle East. What most of us are not hearing reported is that Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan (CFR)
told top national security aides that thePentagon has plans to send 120,000 U.S. troops to the Middle East. Coincidentally, this is
the exact same number of U.S. forces that were used in the invasion of Iraq.
Trump has already sent
nuclear-capable B-52 bombers to the Middle East. He has sent the USSAbraham
Lincoln carrier strike group to the Middle East. He is sending U.S. warships to the tip of China’s
territorial waters. He is sending U.S. military jets and bombers to the tip of Russia’s airspace. He is threatening
overt war with Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran. At least 5,000 U.S. troops have been rushed to Venezuela’s
border-neighbor, Colombia.
In addition, Trump has issued
economic sanctions against India, Mexico, Turkey, the European Union (with 28 member states) and, of course, China,
Russia, Venezuela and Iran. For anyone who understands the way sanctions work, each of these sanctions, by
themselves, could rightly be considered as an act of war. Hundreds of thousands (maybe millions) of little
children, elderly people, the sick and infirmed, etc., are right now starving to death all over the world as a
direct result of Trump’s economic sanctions against their countries. Mr. Trump, have you ever seen a child starve
to death?
And, of course, Trump is bypassing
Congress to send billions of dollars of sophisticated arms and munitions to the Sunni/Wahhabi terrorist state of
Saudi Arabia. Trump is bypassing Congress again to execute wars against Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Iran.
It is no hyperbole to say that
Donald Trump sees himself as an emperor, not a president. And Trump is not shy about admitting it. In his recent
ABC interview with George Stephanopoulos,Trump bellowed, “I run the country.”
It seems that America’s founders
went to a lot of trouble for nothing to create a constitutional republic, because, with the help of evangelical
Christians and conservative Republicans, Donald Trump is rapidly—and I do mean rapidly—turning America into a
monarchy. But in reality,Trump is more of a mafia don than a monarch. And why not? Trump spent his entire business
career learning how to skirt the law, truth, decency, honesty and all things upright from the best cons, killers
and thugs in the business: Zionist mafia bosses. And Trump is now their star pupil.
I’m really tired of hearing my
Christian conservative friends say that Donald Trump means well, but he just listens to bad advice. Humbug! That
miserable attempt at apologizing for Trump is really getting old. Donald Trump knows exactly what he is doing. He
is doing what he fully intended to do from day one. He is doing what he was trained all of his life to
do.
Donald Trump is the consummate
Zionist stooge. He has bewitched Christians and conservatives with his phony religious rhetoric and overt pandering
to Israel. Of course, Christians were already poised and ready for a deceiver like Trump to come along. Ever since
the end of World War II, America’s evangelical churches have dispensed the devilish and diabolical doctrines of
dispensational futurism, which turned them into willing vassals of all things Israel.
Trump’s most influential and
trusted staff members have all been Zionist warmongers. I’m talking about Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo, National Security Advisor John Bolton (CFR), former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Secretary of
Defense Patrick Shanahan (CFR), Special Envoy (translate: war planner) to Venezuela Elliott Abrams (CFR), former
Deputy National Security Advisor K.T. McFarland (CFR), Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin (CFR), Secretary of
Commerce Wilbur Ross (Bilderberg), CIA Director Gina Haspel, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Senior
Advisor to the President Jared Kushner (Bilderberg), Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, et al.
As an aside, Shanahan caught
everyone off guard when he announced last Tuesday that he was leaving the Pentagon. The timing of his departure is
most curious. Why would a defense secretary leave his post just as Donald Trump is on the verge of launching at
least two wars? There is something significant behind this move. But don’t worry, folks, Trump is replacing
Shanahan with another CFR Zionist warmonger, now former secretary of the Army, Mark Esper. But I
digress.
America’s penchant for starting
wars [is] very oftenbased upon lies or false premises. False flag operations mean having an attack blamed upon
another nation which actually was not the culprit. Syria’s questionable fault for gassing of innocent civilians was used by Washington to
bomb its Air Force. Now Secretary of State Pompeo has set us up by publicly stating that any attack on any
American soldier in Iraq or Syria would cause America to attack Iran. He’s put every soldier at risk of death by
some Israeli or Saudi fanatic.
Both Secretary of State Pompeo
and Vice President Pence are profound end times Evangelicals [translate: Israel-based dispensational futurists]. In 2017 I
wrote, Iraq, Syria, Iran…Are We To Destroy Iran Next? about the original neo-conservative
program to re-mold the Middle East. A main new concern is Trump’s Secretary of State’s strong evangelical
beliefs in the end times. The NY Times describes his beliefs [in] The Rapture and the Real World: Pompeo Blends Belief and Policy. The belief is that a
stronger and greater Israel will bring about Armageddon sooner and their rapture straight to heaven.
Destroying Iran’s being a threat to
Israel is thus seen as helping God’s intentions.
TheFT also links to a
Guardian article quoting Pompeo, “Pompeo told a church congregation in Wichita three years
ago. “It is a never-ending struggle . . . until the rapture. Be a part of it. Be in the fight.” Pompeo’s actions
as a “Christian Zionist” are described in a New Republic article The Christianization of US Foreign Policy.
I know what they were trying to
say, but theNew Republic article titled The Christianization of US Foreign
Policy is badly misnamed. What it should be called is The Judaization of US Foreign Policy,
because, for the most part, evangelical Christianity in the U.S. has been completely co-opted by Zionist-Judaism
(which is not Judaism at all, but a political/racial supremacist ideology that uses war to force its will upon any
country that opposes it).
On May 25th Vice President Mike
Pence was the featured speaker at the United States Military Academy commencement.His speech was predictably an encomium celebrating both the diversity and the success
of the newly commissioned officers as well as of the system at West Point that had produced them, but it also
included interesting insights into how he and the other non-veterans who dominate the policy making in the White
House see the military.
Most media commentary on the speech
was eithershocked or pleasantly surprised by Pence's prediction that the graduating officers
would soon be at war. He said, "It is a virtual certainty that you will fight on a battlefield for America at
some point in your life. You will lead soldiers in combat. It will happen. Some of you will join the fight
against radical Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some of you will join the fight on the Korean
Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific, where North Korea continues to threaten the peace, and an increasingly
militarized China challenges our presence in the region. Some of you will join the fight in Europe, where an
aggressive Russia seeks to redraw international boundaries by force. And some of you may even be called upon to
serve in this hemisphere.”
Pence's choice of words is
revealing. There is a "virtual certainty" of "fight[ing] on a battlefield for America" and that battlefield is
global, including both transnational Islamic terrorism and the western hemisphere. The language implies that
American security requires "full spectrum dominance" everywhere. It encompasses traditional national enemies,
with a Pyongyang that "threatens peace," a China that is "militarized," and a Russia that is both "aggressive"
and expansionistic. The soldiers must be prepared to fight "when not if that day comes."
First of all, it is discouraging to
note that Pence believes that a war or wars must take place, and further, one must have to wonder exactly what
scenarios are envisioned by Pence, and also presumably by his boss and colleagues, regarding precisely how war
against other nuclear powers will play out. Nor does he entertain what would happen when the rest of the world
begins to perceive the United States as its enemy due to its willingness to interfere in everyone's politics.
And the American soldiers would die not knowing what they were fighting for, since they would understand from
the onset that it had nothing to do with the defense of the United States.
The speech is, in short, a
recognition that the Trump Administration sees perpetual war on the horizon, a viewpoint that is particularly
alarming as one can quite easily make the case that the United States is not seriously threatened at all by
anyone on Pence's enemies list and is therefore the aggressor. China is a regional power, Russia does not have
the resources or will to reestablish the Soviet Union, and North Korea has only limited capability to attack
anyone, even if it should choose to do so. Islamic terrorism is largely a creation of the United States in the
first place and maintains its potency by the adverse impact of the continued US presence in Muslim lands. And
the suggestion that Venezuela and/or Cuba might be a threat to America is, quite frankly, laughable.
If Mike Pence is seriously
interested in looking around to see who has been most interested in starting new wars, he should look to
gentlemen named Bush and Obama, not to mention his own colleagues John Bolton and Mike Pompeo. And then there
are Washington's feckless allies Israel and Saudi Arabia, who are keen to advance their own interests by means
of piles of dead American soldiers.
As I said, trade a Democrat for a
Republican; trade a liberal for a conservative: It doesn’t matter. The War Party remains in charge either
way.
Here’s one more example: The only
current presidential candidate of either party that is truly anti-war is Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard. Tulsi
is a four-term congresswoman and a combat veteran of the Iraq War.Again, Philip Giraldi has the story:
In a recent interview with Fox
News’s Tucker Carlson, Gabbard doubled down on her anti-war credentials, telling the host that war with
Iranwould be “devastating,” adding that “I know where this path leads us and I’m concerned
because the American people don’t seem to be prepared for how devastating and costly such a war would be… So,
what we are facing is, essentially, a war that has no frontlines, total chaos, engulfs the whole region, is not
contained within Iran or Iraq but would extend to Syria and Lebanon and Israel across the region, setting us up
in a situation where, in Iraq, we lost over 4,000 of my brothers and sisters in uniform. A war with Iran would
take far more American lives, it would cost more civilian lives across the region… Not to speak of the fact that
this would cost trillions of taxpayer dollars coming out of our pockets to go and pay for this endless war that
begs the question as a soldier, what are we fighting for? What does victory look like? What is the mission?”
Due to her strong anti-war
convictions, Gabbard is being savagely attacked by her own Democrat Party and is being all but totally censored by
the mainstream media.
As I have said over and over: There
is only one party in Washington, D.C., and it’s the War Party. And they are at it again.
P.S. This is the second notice that
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War and Christian Militarism
Book Review Written by John Larabell
Are you a “Christian warmonger,” a “Red-state Fascist,” a “Reich-Wing nationalist,” an “Imperial
Christian,” a “Christian killer,” a “pro-life murderer,” a “double-minded warmonger,” a
“God-and-country Christian bumpkin,” or a “warvangelical Christian”? According to Laurence M.
Vance, Ph.D., you may be if you support current U.S. foreign policy and the current actions of the
U.S. military. Do you get your news from the “Fox War Channel” and the “War Street
Journal”? If so, you need to read Vance’s books War, Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian
Militarism and War, Empire, and the Military: Essays on the Follies of War and U.S. Foreign
Policy.
War, Christianity, and the State is a collection of 76 of Vance’s essays written
between 2003 and 2013, all of which appeared on LewRockwell.com. Vance accurately summarizes the
contents of the chapters:
In chapter 1, “Christianity and War,” Christian enthusiasm for war
and the military is shown to be an affront to the Saviour, contrary to Scripture, and a
demonstration of the profound ignorance many Christians have of history. In chapter 2,
“Christianity and the Military,” the idea that Christians should have anything to do with the
military is asserted to be illogical, immoral, and unscriptural. In chapter 3, “Christianity and
the Warfare State,” I argue that Christians who condone the warfare state, its senseless wars, its
war on a tactic (terrorism), its nebulous crusades against “evil,” its aggressive militarism, its
interventions into the affairs of other countries, and its expanding empire have been duped. In
chapter 4, “Christianity and Torture,” I contend that it is reprehensible for Christians to support
torture for any reason.
Vance writes as a conservative, evangelical, fundamentalist Christian, holding degrees in
history, theology, accounting, and economics. His main message in War, Christianity, and the
State is that
If there is any group of people that should be opposed to war,
torture, militarism, and the warfare state with its suppression of civil liberties, imperial
presidency, government propaganda, and interventionist foreign policy it is Christians, and
especially conservative, evangelical, and fundamentalist Christians who claim to strictly follow
the dictates of Scripture and worship the Prince of Peace.
Vance sharply rebukes supporters of the warfare state, particularly Christians, and illustrates
the follies and horrors of war. He points out the hypocrisy of Christians who support U.S.
militarism, the warfare state, the neoconservative-dominated Republican Party, and those who
believe almost everything coming from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and
Glenn Beck. Many such Christians claim to worship the Prince of Peace yet wholeheartedly endorse
acts of violence against other people in the form of war. He dubs such Christians “Christian
killers” to illustrate this contradiction.
While some Christians may in fact be opposed to the numerous wars of aggression entered into by
the United States, they almost to a person still “support the troops,” because the troops are “just
following orders” and are thus justified in their killing of those who have not actually attacked
the U.S. homeland. While Vance admits that killing in genuine defense of one’s life or family is
justified, he also argues that killing other human beings, Christian or not, merely because the
government labels them as “the enemy” is not justifiable and is therefore murder. In light of this,
Vance believes that Christians should not serve in today’s military, and if they are already in the
military, they should refuse to kill people in wars of aggression, no matter the consequences.
Vance elaborates:
Most people say the troops are not responsible because they’re just
following orders.... Many evangelical Christians agree, and join in this chorus of statolatry with
their “obey the powers that be” mantra....
First of all, the last time I looked in my Bible, I got the strong
impression that it was only God who should be obeyed 100 percent of the time without question....
If the U.S. government told someone to kill his mother, any American would be outraged if he under
any circumstances went and did it. But if the government tells someone to put on a uniform and go
kill some Iraqi’s mother, the typical American puts a yellow ribbon on his car and says we should
support the troops.... Being told to clean or paint a piece of equipment is one thing; being told
to bomb or shoot a person is another.
War, Empire, and the Military is a collection of 127 of Vance’s essays written
between 2004 and 2014, with the bulk of them appearing on LewRockwell.com. Vance notes of the seven
chapters:
In chapter 1, “War and Peace,” the evils of war and warmongers and
the benefits of peace are examined. In chapter 2, “The Military,” the evils of standing armies and
militarism are discussed, including a critical look at U.S. military. In chapter 3, “The War in
Iraq,” the wickedness of the Iraq War is exposed. In chapter 4, “World War II,” the “good war” is
shown to be not so good after all. In chapter 5, “Other Wars,” the evils of war and the warfare
state are chronicled in specific wars: the Crimean War (1854-1856), the Russo-Japanese War
(1904-1905), World War I (1914-1918), the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991), and the war in Afghanistan
(2001-). In chapter 6, “The U.S. Global Empire,” the beginnings, growth, extent, nature, and
consequences of the U.S. empire of bases and troops are revealed and critiqued. In chapter 7, “U.S.
Foreign Policy,” the belligerence, recklessness, and follies of U.S. foreign policy are laid
bare.
According to Vance, the underlying theme in this collection of essays is
opposition to the warfare state that robs us of our liberty, our
money, and in some cases our life. Conservatives who decry the welfare state while supporting the
warfare state are terribly inconsistent. The two are inseparable. Libertarians who are opposed to
war on principle, but support the state’s bogus “war on terrorism,” even as they remain silent
about the U.S. global empire, are likewise contradictory.
War, Empire, and the Military is a great study of history and a must-read for
anyone who supports current U.S. foreign policy. Vance begins the book by explaining the views of
classical Western thinkers and the views of the Founding Fathers regarding war, empire, and the
military, telling how (and why) the early Americans were very much opposed to the modern warfare
state with its foreign entanglements, foreign wars, and massive military budget. After all, the
U.S. military, Vance says throughout both books, is now used for everything but its original
purpose: the defense of the United States and the securing of her national borders.
In addition to giving detailed accounts of why many of the wars of the past two centuries were
actually fought (often not the reasons given in American public-school history classes), Vance
includes a number of essays depicting the horrors of war from the perspective of soldiers on the
battlefield. After reading many of these accounts, only the most calloused individuals would still
be eager to see America involved in another war.
War, Christianity, and the State is no doubt the more controversial of the two
books. Many conservative Christians will vehemently disagree with Vance’s views on the current
evils of the U.S. military and war in general. In fact, Vance mentions the criticism he receives
from many Christians (most of whom are not in the military) for his opposition to U.S. foreign
policy and the warfare state. He admits that he has been called “liberal,” “communist,” “anti-war
weenie,” “traitor,” “coward,” “America-hater,” and other vulgarities that will not be printed here.
But Vance argues his points well, and provides a great deal of historical background on Christian
opposition to war and the views of the Founding Fathers on war and standing armies to make his
case. Additionally, Vance includes a number of essays featuring letters he has received from
military personnel who agree with him. An open-minded reader who is a genuine Christian would find
it difficult to disagree with Vance’s primary theses in both books.
A few small criticisms are in order. There is a great deal of overlap among the various essays,
which is to be expected, and which Vance admits to in the beginning of both books. Additionally,
there are a number of minor spelling and grammar errors, and, as the essays were primarily online
postings, there are many spots that were obvious hyperlinks that do not show up in the books, which
can be a bit awkward for the reader. This, also, Vance admits to.
But as mentioned above, both books — War, Christianity, and the State and War, Empire, and the Military — are must-reads for conservative
Christians, many of whom have supported the military and the American warfare state. Although
Vance has a literary wit and offers sharp criticism of those he disagrees with in order to
provoke a thoughtful response, open-minded readers will no doubt come to agree with many of his
views.