Who owns you?
Do you own you?
Or does the American State own you?
Put another way: Are you free?
Or are you the property – the slave – of the State?
From the American State’s perspective, there’s little doubt as to the answer: You no more own yourself than you can actually own a home or any other substantial property here in “the land of the free” and the home of the NSA. It all belongs to the State, with “it” including you, your home, and everything else.
The latest evidence of America’s long descent into open godlessness and tyrannical abuse of power comes by way of the US Senate voting to make women every bit as much the official property of the State as men.
As The New York Times reported earlier this week:
In the latest and perhaps decisive battle over the role of women in the military, Congress is embroiled in an increasingly intense debate over whether they should have to register for the draft when they turn 18.
On Tuesday, the Senate approved an expansive military policy bill that would for the first time require young women to register for the draft. The shift, while fiercely opposed by some conservative lawmakers and interest groups, had surprisingly broad support among Republican leaders and women in both parties.
Just let that soak in.
They voted to take possession – to take formal ownership – of our daughters, mothers, sisters and wives.
All in the name of preserving the best things, of course, like freedom, liberty, security, safety…all the things the American State desperately wants us to believe in and trust in it to provide on its terms rather than trusting in God to provide these things as blessings of obedience to His Word – a Word which couldn’t more explicitly condemn pretty much everything America is best known for these days.
Back in February we kicked this subject around a bit in “A nation that conscripts its daughters for its defense is a nation that no longer deserves a defense.”
Since much of what was touched on there is particularly worthy of reconsideration right about now, it seems like a good time to reshare a good part of what was posted in that piece just four months back:
One of the many things that wasn’t debated at Saturday night’s GOP “debate” was the presumption of American State ownership of the American people when it comes to the notion of a military draft. These days, it’s just a given that the State owns everything, including even your body, should it decide that there is a slot in its perpetual war machine that “needs” to be filled by your body, all “for the good of the collective”, of course. That’s just how “conservatism” rolls here in “the land of the free” these days.
The State owns everything.
The State owns everyone.
Or so it thinks (and wants us to think), anyway.
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Which is where State-run children’s “education” comes in, embedding from childhood on the presuppositions that are essential to fostering a State-centered worldview, thereby creating the submissive, compliant, domesticated and utterly State-dependent culture that we have now in America.
After generations of Statist indoctrination at Statist Temples (“schools”), we have arrived at a point where the State is able to openly claim ownership over our homes, our bodies, and pretty much everything else, all while programming us to sing on cue about living in a “land of the free”, pledge on cue our allegiance to the indivisible political power of the American State, and ramble on at the drop of a hat about the freedom-enabling awesomeness of the American State.
So it shouldn’t come as any surprise at all that our beloved Statist “leaders” on the Pagan Political Right took roughly three tenths of a second to roll over and accommodate the flagrantly anti-Christ, pro-Statist aim of registering women for the unbiblical draft.
In the wake of last weekend’s GOP/Statist “debate”, which touched on this subject in a revealing manner, Doug Wilson chimed in with some helpful observations:
Once you have signed off on the nation/state conscripting your daughters to go serve in combat roles, whatever it was you thought you were conserving — thus allowing you to call yourself a conservative — has had a fork stuck in it and is done. Nothing really to conserve any more.
A nation that conscripts its daughters for its defense is a nation that no longer deserves a defense.
Let that one soak in.
Deeply.
Wilson continues:
. . . some Christians will want to say that the Bible doesn’t say anything about this issue, and so — they say — traditionalists are just getting themselves whizzed up for the sake of some old-timey cultural values. Where does the Bible say anything about this?
Let’s wade into this from the shallow end.
First, when God had His people go to war, only the men were mustered. Males, twenty years old and up, were mustered for war (e.g. 2 Sam. 24:9). Incidentally, not to get sidetracked, but forced conscription for men is not biblical either. In Scripture the men were mustered, but were not forced to fight. If they did not want to fight, even for dishonorable reasons like fear, they were free to go home. So when a government conscripts men, they are forcing them into a vocation that men are in fact called to perform, with the coercion creating an injustice. But when a government conscripts women for combat, that government has declared war on the permanent things. It is degrading to the women involved, and an utter disgrace to the men who allow it to happen.
. . . the Bible flatly prohibits the kind of perverse thinking that would put women into combat. “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God” (Deut. 22:5). That “which pertaineth unto a man” is a rendering of keli geber, which literally refers to the gear of a warrior. Men are prohibited from chasing after the transvestite kick, whatever that is, and women are prohibited from decking themselves out as an infantryman. It is easy for modern secularists to lump this in with the prohibition of clam chowder, but for those who read the Scriptures with understanding, it should be lumped in with the abominations of sodomy and witchcraft. Unfortunately, many Christians will fall for this latest abomination because it has been artfully decked out in red, white, and blue.
And there you have it – the [ahem] Trump card of American Statism: Patriotism.
Just wrap a thing – anything – artfully enough in the red, white and blue of America, and the vast majority of Americans – the vast majority of whom claim to be Christians – will dutifully bow and obey, often quite happily and always proudly.
That’s what generations of State-run “education” has done for (and to) us.
The American State has taken down marriage.
The American State has taken over our homes.
The American State has emasculated and muted our churches.
The American State has overrun and dominated our culture.
And now the American State is coming for our daughters as it never has before.
[insert “U! S! A!” chant here]
Way to go, “American men”.
On that note, and in response to it, I’d like to echo and amen Doug Wilson’s closing sentiments:
I have argued elsewhere that a man’s central obligation before God is to provide for his family and to protect them. He should bring up his sons to do the same. An essential part of that protection would be to protect your daughters from the appalling policy that would (apparently) be upheld by a President Rubio. So under a President Rubio, it is possible that some of my granddaughters might be drafted. But it is not possible for that to happen without a number of the men around them going to jail first.
Amen once again to Doug Wilson.
Uncle Sam cannot have my daughter. Or my son, for that matter. They are not his property. We are not his slaves.
I pray that God will inspire sweeping conviction and repentance on a massive scale, which will then in turn lead to profound revival and reformation atop the monstrous construct now known as the American State. I also pray that if He chooses not to save and reform that system, He will bring it down quickly and emphatically in ruin as a testament to the unbreakable beauty and power of His Word and as a liberating blow for His people, who will not be slaves to a State that seeks to be god.
Repent, America. While you still can.
In the meantime, you cannot have me, my wife, or my children.
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Finally, here are a few good intro/reminder links for those of you who are new to Fire Breathing Christian and curious about exactly what’s goin’ on ’round here:
What are you, some kind of [insert label here] or something?!
What’s with that shark-fishie graphic thing?
Intro to Fire: The Power and Purpose of the Common Believer
When the Bible gets hairy. (Or: Is it right for men to have long hair?)
And especially this one: Never forget that apart from God’s grace you and I are complete morons.
Thank you for your support!
Scott, you're right I did call you a coward first. For that I am sorry. I over reacted, I have buried far too many young men and women. But my own personal loss should have no place in a reasoned debate. But I must confess to suffering from a bit of whiplash. The person who has replied to these posts can not be the person depicted on the bio page. Which brings me to another point. I read in your bio where you go to church. In your church's statement titled "our beliefs" it says that the "Holy Scriptures are God's inspired and inerrant word, contained in the 66 books of the Old and New Testament." I believe this as well. It further states "Old Testament in Hebrew, New Testament in Greek." I believe this as well. What I would like to point out is that the Greeks were an idolatrous, pagan nation of pedophiles, and yet God still used them. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus never spoke out against the Roman empire. Another pagan nation that was interested in only advancing it's own kingdom rather than His. He still used them to further spread the Gospel. Still later he used the British empire, which began to mass produce his word. What I am trying to say is that I grant you that things look bad. But our grand-parents and great grand-parents had it far worse than we have ever seen. During the First World War men died by the tens of thousands on the fields of France and Belgium. They saw killing on an unprecedented scale in eastern Germany, Poland and the Ukraine. They endured the Depression, a time when de-centralized government failed miserably. After enduring all this, they fought Fascism and won. If anyone could lay claim to the fall of the "American empire" it would be them. God wasn't done with us then, and I don't think he's done with us now. Romans 8:28 "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God." I agree with you that God doesn't need America. But he has used them, and he continues to use them. For example, one of the "illegal wars" that I participated in was Operation Joint Endeavor. We separated the Serbs and Muslims in Bosnia, and helped implement the Dayton Peace accords. It's a mission that finally ended a few years ago. Shortly after the fighting stopped, missionaries began to return. Several churches send thousands of shoeboxes to Bosnian children every Christmas. This might be the only opportunity these children living in a Muslim country ever get to hear the gospel. Someday, missionaries may even return to Iraq and Afghanistan. God isn't done with this country yet.
Scott. I had hoped that we could have an adult conversation about the topic you chose to write on. But I see now that will not happen. Your claims that I have taken Scripture out of context is an interesting one. Can we infer from this statement that you are taking it in context? I would not debate you on whose interpretation of scripture is correct, as that is a foolish argument. I am old enough to realize that I can be wrong. But name calling is truly low. Perhaps in your view I am a coward. Although, if we were standing face to face I don’t think that’s what you’d say. But again I could be wrong. I will take my leave of your site, but before I leave, a few more thoughts. I notice that you don’t dispute any of the numbers I used in my argument. Nor do you provide me with the proper “context” for the text I “abused.” Is there a reason for that? I don’t know where you are writing from, but let us assume that you are living in the U.S. Hopefully you are not writing this from a prison cell in the U.S. I am assuming that you pay taxes. that you utilize public roads, and when needed, you go to the hospital. If this “state” is so vile and corrupted are you not contributing to this corruption by continuing to pay? Wouldn’t it be best for you and your family to leave, and find somewhere to live where you can build something that God would bless? This is what the pilgrims did. Just a thought. Lastly, a state is a political entity. It has a means of extraction. It has an internal security force, and an external security force. It’s people do not have a common language, nor do they have a shared history or natural geographic borders. Examples of this would be the former Yugoslavia, or the Austro-Hungarian empire. America is a nation. A nation has a common language, natural geographic boundaries, and a shared history. That’s not me, that’s political science 101. If you want to use the sentiments of veterans against a veteran, you better have some names to back that up. Anyone can make a claim like that. Be well.
Roy, when you whine about name calling after kicking things off with a parade of idiotic insults culminating with your laughably hurling a label of cowardice at those who would dare inform you that you and your State-adoring goons cannot have their daughters to feed to your pathetic idol, you only compound your error and further clarify your profoundly delusional (and dangerous) disposition.
(See, from your earlier post: "As a Christian man who also a veteran of over twenty years of service to the "state" let me speak on behalf of veterans of the all volunteer military. We don't want you. We don't want you because all of you are to weak to walk 5 feet in the boots of my brothers and sisters. So enjoy your lives of privilege, and don't worry about it. I am sure your women are just as cowardly as your men.)
I appreciate your further clarification, as it is helpful to expose your type to those reading. (Note to readers: This is the kind of "man" who, if their patriotic idolatry is allowed to go unchecked, will one day either come to seize your family members in the name of "freedom" and "liberty", or support those who do.)
Thankfully, not all men who have worn a uniform have swilled the ideological bilge that you're so faithfully regurgitating here. And those men, also quite thankfully, tend to be even more repulsed by your worldview than I am (as impossible as that may seem).
What kind of coward spins the registration of daughters, sisters, and wives for the draft so that the American State may confiscate women like cattle to use in its unbiblical war machine, protecting the State-adored "right" to gay marriage, child sacrifice, strip clubs, porn, and the open worship of Allah at a mosque or Lucifer at a Satanic temple? What special kind of idiot would possibly expect any sane, masculine, God-fearing man to go along with that approach to "freedom" and "liberty"?
A totally brainwashed tool, that's who. A totally programmed drone of the (wannabe) almighty State.
Like you.
To refer to those opposing your beloved idol as "cowardly" says it all…and then to whine about name-calling here in the aftermath of that line says even more…
Repent.
While you have the time.
In the meantime, as always: Keep your hands (and claims of State ownership) off the free people of my family.
When I read my Bible I see that Daniel was a man gifted by God with the ability to interpret dreams. God placed Daniel not on a street corner, or in a cave, but as the right hand man of a pagan king. Daniel worked very hard to ensure the success of this pagan kingdom, until the commands of the king attempted to force him to worship the king as a god. No one has done that yet. When that day comes I will be the first one to stand and fight. We are at war. We can discuss as rational human beings the best way to prosecute that war, but we are at war none the less. This country is currently incapable of duplicating what it did during World War II. Currently, 70% of the population is incapable of serving in the military. Obesity, addiction and age are the three biggest problems. The current active duty military occupies less than one half of one percent. In other words Kansas city Missouri is providing all the security for a nation of over 330 million. That leaves roughly 66 million people who might be able to serve. According to the 2010 census there are currently more women than men in this country. So however distasteful it might be, there aren’t many other options. I don’t presume to speak for all Veterans. However as someone who has served, and has a degree in history with a focus on twentieth/twenty-first century warfare, I feel compelled to speak when I read things that sound dangerously like the arguments against the draft in the late sixties and early seventies. Then the argument was ” no uncle Sam, you can’t have my son.” Because he has a future, he’s a college student, etc. Send the poor, and the people of color. That wasn’t a good argument then, and it isn’t now. Lastly, since when do covenants made by the God of the universe have an expiration date. Whether it is the modern nation state of Israel or the Biblical kingdom of Israel, God means what he says and says what he means. If God said you are my people 3,000 years ago that still holds true today. He is the same yesterday, tomorrow and always.
Your selective use (abuse) of texts or subjects in Scripture torn out of their context for the purpose of somehow, some way trying to use them to help prop up your default idolatry of the American State is telling.
America is not the gold standard for anything. God doesn't need America and Christians do not need America.
America needs to repent and submit before God finishes squishing it away.
Hope that helps to clarify.
America and Americans need to get over their pride, repent, and beg for forgiveness before God finishes what He has already clearly started in judging America. To imagine for even a moment that the America Idol has some basic right of ownership over people while simultaneously labeling itself as "the land of the free" is the stuff of black comedy. Your America Idol has no such right of ownership over people, and only a stark raving coward and compliant, sycophantic drone of the State would *defend* any State claim to such ownership of daughters and wives.
What a cowardly and pathetic condition Statism leaves males (I can't really call 'em "men") who defend such wildly unbiblical concepts.
As for the other anti-Christ nation state that you idolize (the one going by the name “Israel”) and try to use as cover for dismissing Scripture, God has but one chosen people. Not Two. He has but one “apple of His eye”. Not two.
God’s chosen people are the Bride of His Son, as made plain in His Word (which, though you don’t seem to care for it anytime it contradicts your cowardly embrace of Statism, I will still quote it anyway):
“But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.” (Romans 9:6-8 ESV)
So while I expect you will go on defending your cowardly compliance with the State-sponsored notion of State-ownership of people, I’m happy and honored to stand in opposition to your ridiculous idolatry no matter the temporary cost here, trusting fully that the America Idol will ultimately fall and fade away as all other proud, unrepentant wannabe gods have before it.
I take these stands against pillagers and cowards craving property rights over my family while praying and working for the repentance and restoration of those very same idolaters while God graciously allows time for it.
When I read my Bible I see that Daniel was a man gifted by God with the ability to interpret dreams. God placed Daniel not on a street corner, or in a cave, but as the right hand man of a pagan king. Daniel worked very hard to ensure the success of this pagan kingdom, until the commands of the king attempted to force him to worship the king as a god. No one has done that yet. When that day comes I will be the first one to stand and fight. We are at war. We can discuss as rational human beings the best way to prosecute that war, but we are at war none the less. This country is currently incapable of duplicating what it did during World War II. Currently, 70% of the population is incapable of serving in the military. Obesity, addiction and age are the three biggest problems. The current active duty military occupies less than one half of one percent. In other words Kansas city Missouri is providing all the security for a nation of over 330 million. That leaves roughly 66 million people who might be able to serve. According to the 2010 census there are currently more women than men in this country. So however distasteful it might be, there aren’t many other options. I don’t presume to speak for all Veterans. However as someone who has served, and has a degree in history with a focus on twentieth/twenty-first century warfare, I feel compelled to speak when I read things that sound dangerously like the arguments against the draft in the late sixties and early seventies. Then the argument was ” no uncle Sam, you can’t have my son.” Because he has a future, he’s a college student, etc. Send the poor, and the people of color. That wasn’t a good argument then, and it isn’t now.
As a Christian man who also a veteran of over twenty years of service to the “state” let me speak on behalf of veterans of the all volunteer military. We don’t want you. We don’t want you because all of you are to weak to walk 5 feet in the boots of my brothers and sisters. So enjoy your lives of privilege, and don’t worry about it. I am sure your women are just as cowardly as your men.
The combination of rank America worship, self-serving idolatry, and comical arrogance with a willful dismissal of objective reality is just the sort combo that's become the norm for Americultists pretending to be Christians. To presume to speak "for all veterans", many of whom hold precisely the views you so childishly condemn, says a lot about how detached from reality and blinded by idolatry you've become.
God will provide all that His people need – including the courage to resist the likes of those who just voted to pave the path to drafting daughters – long after America has finished its prideful plunge into the grave – a grave dug primarily by professing Christians proudly holding onto explicitly anti-Christian worldviews even as those worldviews drag them to the bottom of the sea.
Your idol is dying, Roy. Repent, believe and be saved while there is yet time.
The King commands this of everyone, American or otherwise.
A quick refresher course on American history might be in order. Nixon abolished selective service in 1973. Their hasn’t been a draft since. Our current military is an all volunteer force. It has brought honor to the American people. This is not opinion, it’s fact. Feel free to check. Since 1982 the all volunteer military has fought in numerous conflicts from Grenada to Afghanistan. The all volunteer force works. So as a person who served this country for over twenty years, let me calm your fears, and say this plainly so no one is confused. We don’t want you. We would rather, that you continue to live your life of privilege, than force you to violate the Biblical principles you are clinging to. We have succeeded beyond all the expectations of the American people. Women have served with distinction for over 100 years. Recently, women graduated from Army Ranger school, the ultimate tough guy Academy. As a fellow believer in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I find this entire discussion disappointing to say the least. If my knowledge of the old testament is right, God made a covenant with Abraham. “I will be your God, and you will be my people.” In Israel service is mandatory, even for women. History tells me that it hasn’t hurt their nation.
The Word of God is the standard for all things, Roy, not the modern secular nation State named Israel.
That's Christianity 101.
Be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it. Such true words. I am so saddened and ashamed of my fellow American women that we have gotten ourselves into such a mess by thinking we were somehow "missing out" and being "treated unfairly". We demanded to be treated just like men, and now we are seeing the awful results. I had a friend tell me that the real gender barrier in the workplace is not a glass ceiling, but a glass coffin, because true workplace "equality" would be when women do the hard and dangerous jobs (not merely the financially lucrative ones) alongside men.
I am so encouraged by the fact that there are still men out there who wholeheartedly endorse these words,
"I have argued elsewhere that a man’s central obligation before God is to provide for his family and to protect them. He should bring up his sons to do the same. . . It is possible that some of my granddaughters might be drafted. But it is not possible for that to happen without a number of the men around them going to jail first."
But sadly I know the men who feel that way are few and far between, and rather than moan and groan asking "where have all the real men gone", we American women need only look in the mirror to see who drove them off in the first place when we told them they were being sexist and discriminatory for wanting to protect us.
Thank you for a wonderful and timely article.
This is a good reply. First women wanted out of the home and now there are going to be forced out of the home.
My daughters are 24 and 22 and the government cannot have them either. They cannot offer anything to me or them that would ever be acceptable to hand my girls over to them . You are also right a nation that forces women to defend it doesn't deserve to be defended.