Freedom Writer - June 1995
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Excerpts from theField Manual of the Free Militia
Biblical authority_
Before we can rightly consider arming and organizing ourselves as
a militia, we must consider whether or not doing so is the right thing
to do. Later on we will see that we have the historical and constitutional
right to form a militia. But ultimately, right and wrong is determined
by God's will, and God's will is determined from the Bible. Why turn
to the Bible to answer our questions about right and wrong?
If you are a Bible believer, you must be committed to following its
moral standards. If you do not believe the Bible, you should still
know and weigh what it says and use it to justify your actions to
Bible believers.
To say that the entire Bible is equally inspired word for word does
not necessarily mean that it is all of equal value or interest to
us. It simply means that word for word it all came from God.
The Bible is word for word the word of God. Therefore it is completely
true or without any errors. This is what we mean by inerrancy. Think
about it. If God knows everything (1 John 3:20) and cannot lie (Hebrews
6:18), and if the Bible's words are God's words, then there cannot
be any mistakes in the Bible. Otherwise, God would either have to
be wrong himself or lying to us.
The fact that the Bible doesn't have any mistakes is not simply an
"academic" truth. It is of immense practical importance. Only if it
is all true can we know for sure that any particular part of it is
true. Do you want to do right by obeying a command in the Bible only
to find out later that you were wrong to do what you did? Of course
not. We need a Bible that is true throughout to have any real hope
of pleasing God.
This leads us to the final point which needs to be made about the
Bible: the Bible alone is authoritative, meaning that it, and only
it, must be completely believed and obeyed. Since all of the Bible
is God's word we cannot pick and choose what we want to obey. Since
it is all true, we cannot neglect a portion of it by raising doubts
about its reliability. Since it contains all we need for our Christian
walks we cannot appeal to something or someone besides the Bible as
our final authority on some issue.
We must make sure that whatever we do in any department of life, including
the use of force, conforms to the truth and moral principles of the
Bible.
_
'Jesus Christ was not a pacifist'
Christ's emphasis on love is sometimes perceived to imply that he
was a pacifist who condemned all violence and war. But this is a misunderstanding.
A close look at the Bible will show that Jesus Christ was not a pacifist,
and will demonstrate that he approved of the justified use of deadly
force.
_
Neither John the Baptist, nor Jesus, nor the apostles, condemned
soldiering. Luke 3:14, Matthew 8:5-13.
Jesus Christ both permitted and commanded his followers to be armed.
Luke 22:36, John 18:10-11, Matthew 26:52.
Jesus Christ used just force. Matthew 21:12, John 2:15, John 18:6.
Jesus Christ would have been justified in defending himself. Matthew
26:53.
Jesus Christ will someday use deadly force on a wide scale. Matthew
13:41-43, Matthew 25:41, 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10,
2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 19:11-21.
Jesus taught that force was a last resort. John 18:36, Matthew 5:9,
Romans 12:17-19, Matthew 5:39, Matthew 5:44-45.
_
Moral duty_
When elected officials break their oath to uphold the Constitution,
it is not the patriotic citizen who is in rebellion, but the governing
official!
"For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who
do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority?
Then do what is right and he will commend you" (Romans 13:3). If you
do what is constitutionally right by forming a militia and the government
accuses you of wrongdoing, then in fact they have lost all authority
because they have turned away from the very thing which legitimizes
them.
Our country sprang into being and is founded on the principle of ordinary
citizens like you and me arming and organizing ourselves to fight
tyranny.
If you become convinced that the federal government is bent on systematic
violations of our personal liberties, it is your moral duty to join
with others so convinced to restore true liberty for all Americans.
We must ask ourselves: Is there any reason to suspect that my personal
liberties are in jeopardy? Is there any indication that the government
is systematically threatening my rights? Is there any possibility
that a tyranny could be established in the United States?
Affirmative answers to any of these questions should arouse our fervor
for liberty and motivate us to spring immediately and effectively
to arms.
It will now be demonstrated that our liberties are in jeopardy, that
our rights are systematically threatened, and that tyranny can happen
in the United States. (I am not saying it will, I'm saying it could
happen.) We will demonstrate this by examining the status of our civil,
gun, property, and state rights. First, here are some examples of
violated civil rights.
The right to life
(Fifth Amendment)
For a generation we have had legalized abortion which denies the right
of the unborn child to live. While an individual's right to privacy
cannot be restricted by the interests of the majority, they are restricted
by other individual rights. The Declaration of Independence and the
Bible both imply that the right to life is superior to the right to
privacy.
Freedom of religion
(First Amendment)
The America 2000 education program is designed to standardize the
curriculum in and centralize control of all public schools by imposing
"outcome-based" education on all school districts.
Freedom of the press
(First Amendment)
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting is a federal agency that funds
public television. PBS is by its very nature informational. Thus we
have a situation that in principle approaches having a state news
agency like foreign dictatorships and autocratic governments have.
_
A call to arms!
From every legitimate angle, we are justified in keeping and bearing
arms as well as forming or joining a militia independent of government
control. The Bible tells us we are morally right. The American Revolution
shows us we have the historical right. The Constitution protects our
legal right. Moreover, our Constitutional liberties are systematically
being eroded and denied. The fact that officials are infringing gun
rights on every front is simply a manifestation of their inner tendency
to empower themselves. Left unchecked, this tendency will lead to
genuine tyranny. Remember, "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts
absolutely."
So this is a pivotal point in American history. If the government
is successful in banning semi-automatic paramilitary weapons, then
they will be emboldened not only to further infringe gun rights, but
to infringe all rights. This is because the Second Amendment is the
teeth of the Bill of Rights, and assault rifles are the teeth of the
Second Amendment. Without their bite, there is nothing to prevent
a draconian state from devouring all of our precious liberties.
Your right and duty is to arm and organize yourself against further
federal and state encroachments on your liberties. At a minimum, you
should purchase and learn how to effectively use a firearm, preferably
a so-called assault rifle. The more citizens that own guns, the less
willing the government will be to threaten us. Ideally, you should
also join a local militia, committed to constitutional principles.
You need to be organized, equipped, trained, and coordinated with
other like-minded men to effectively stand up to the growing arrogance
of the federal government. It was said during the American Revolution
that "united we stand, divided we fall." This is still true today.
So arm yourself. Organize yourselves. And prepare to fight if you
have to.
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Copyright 1995 IFAS
The Freedom Writer / ifas@crocker.com
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