To love truth is to care about it enough to defend it from those who would do it violence.

"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
-United States Constitution, Amendment 2.

What does this mean? Now, it is true that the word "arms" can mean weapons, but a more common meaning of the word is actually the two limbs that come off of a person's shoulders.

Here is what my concordance says: "Arms: (n) (pl) The appendages of a crinoid that extend upward and outward from the body."

Isn't that interesting? I went through my whole life and never even considered that. But it's true don't you think? After all, what militia or free state could be kept safe if no one had limbs or hands? Imagine a life without arms. Imagine a country where the citizens couldn't pick things up or carry things or build things with their hands. Arms are pretty important right? Now, historically, all the pointy-headed academics of the past superstitiously believed that this meant guns and ammo... stuff like that.

But it is just far too narrow to assume that the founders meant only arms in a militaristic sense. So, after a much more authentic study of the original words using the full sense of the language, we find that people have the right to keep their limbs so that they are equipped to serve the militia and the state with them. It's not about paranoia and getting weapons together to oppose the government. It's about keeping your body intact so that you can obediently serve those in authority over you and toil for the good of the state and its military complex.

In return for that that service, the state in this amendment promises not to cut your limbs off at the shoulders. Now what happens if you don't serve the state? Well, I hate to say it, but arms are for the militia and the security of the state. If you aren't contributing to the security of the state, I guess you don't need arms now do you...


"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime,"-United States Constitution, Amendment 5.

What does this mean? Well, there you have it folks, this country was never supposed to convict criminals. After all, the founding of this great nation was not so much about representative government and the rule of law. It was about freedom. Freedom to do whatever you want. That's why the states all agreed that "No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime," After all, who are we to judge what other people do?!? It's more important to preserve freedom for all people no matter what the cost is. And yet our prisons are full of people who have been held to answer for crimes in direct violation of this amendment to our United States Constitution. This is not what the founders intended at all!

Why are we letting people get imprisoned and even put to death when our own Constitution forbids it? We should let them all go and just forgive them.

So the Bill of Rights teaches that we should be slaves to a state that is impowered to mutilate our bodies if we don't comply and that no one should ever be charged of a capital crime.

------------------------------------------

If you were offended by this twisting of the text or you found this to be just stupid logic, then you and I agree that context and proper textual interpretation are critical to the preservation of truth. You wouldn't want to live in a state where the Constitution is twisted this way. If the government started to talk this way, you'd get pretty mad and afraid. If there was a national movement to let all the criminals out of jail and abolish the criminal justice system based on the 5th Amendment, wouldn't you say something? If the President started saying that people who didn't serve the government were going to have their arms chopped off in accordance with the 2nd Amendment, wouldn't you protest? Wouldn't you stand up for the truth?

People who pervert the truth this way are dangerous quite frankly. They don't care about the truth. They don't care about you. They are charlatans. They are wolves in sheep's clothing. Con-men. Most of the time, their lies and half-truths are alot slicker than these examples. They are just using something that you value (like the Constitution or the Bible) to justify thier own personal agendas. The sad thing is that the state only has control over the affairs of this world. Why would you want to let the church do this to Holy Scripture when the consequences are so much worse!?! It's not just people's lives... we are talking about things of eternal significance.

It's not nit-picking to demand that everyone carefully use a text properly and not twist it to fit their own personal agendas. If you love truth then you have no choice but to defend truth when it gets trampled on by some idiot who wants to make a text say things that it doesn't. If you love something, you don't let people steal it and co-opt it for their own purposes.

If you are a totalitarian with genocidal tendencies, be proud of who you are. Own your crazy beliefs and speak plainly. Be a man and stand on your own two feet. But don't pretend the Constitution supports your views. Don't twist the words of the founders to prop up your lunacy. Don't approach a situation sideways and manipulate the facts just so you can win. Don't try to steal the credibility of the Constitution to use for your own purposes. Don't act like you love liberty and that liberty means subjegating people and cutting their arms off.

By the same token, if you are some ideolgoical fanatic, be proud of who you are. Stand on your own two feet and see how many followers you can attract on your own merit. But don't pretend that your views are Biblical. Don't twist God's Word to prop up your lunacy. Don't try to steal the credibility of the Christian faith when you aren't even close to teaching Christianity. Don't act like you love Christianity and that Christianity means whatever foolishness it is that you managed to came up with.

Can't everyone see that these kinds of people must be opposed by a civil and rigorous defense in the public square using plain reason, intelegence, evidence, and the clear facts?

It is one thing if some kook is rambling off like this in the street and no one listens to him. You can ignore that. But when respected teachers and leaders start teaching masses of people and children this kind of horrible doctrine, and when those people start to believe that it is true and live their lives accordingly, those who know the truth must stand up and point out the error. What other choice is there? Let truth die and let tyranny prevail in the name of some misguided attempt to let sleeping dogs lie? It's one thing to let a sleeping dog lie. Leave that dog alone. But when the dog wakes up and starts mauling an old lady, you have no choice but to act.

We shouldn't have to argue over these kinds of things. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to point out where liars and fools are leading people astray. I certainly don't want to fight about truth... it is exhausting and not much fun... but I can't stand by and let truth get destroyed. I've seen what it costs. I can't watch people get conned and do nothing. Good men must rally together and mount a compitent defense if good is to prevail at all.

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." -Edmund Burke

To love truth is to care about it enough to defend it from those who would do it violence. To love people is to care enough about them that you are willing to point out when they are getting taken for a ride. To love the flock is to care about it enough that you are willing to risk hurting some feelings in order to beat back the wolves that have invaded the fold. Loving something requires that you must defend it... and sometimes it must be a defense that costs a great deal. Some things must be defended at the cost of superficial unity, people's feelings, political correctness, your time, your comfort, and--where neccessary--even life itself.

I love Christ. I love Christianity. I love the church. And I love all of you. Those aren't just empty words. They are backed up by action. These things are worth defending at all times and at all costs. As a Soldier, I am in the vocation of defense in physical warfare. As a Christian, I am also called to do the same but on a spiritual battlefield. Defense is not about killing what you hate. It is about protecting what you love.

There was a popular slogan during this nation's founding: "This We'll Defend." It is commonly depicted in the form of a speech bubble coming from a serpent which was the symbol of the "Don't Tread on Me" flags and drawings. Both the serpent and the motto can be found on the official seal of the Department of the Army to this very day and "This We'll Defend" remains the official motto of the Drill Sergeant Academy. Every drill sergeant in the army wears a badge on his or her chest that says "This We'll Defend". Why? Because if you love something, you believe that it is worth defending from those who would take and kill or twist it. That's true of liberty. That's true of your fellow man. That's true of Christianity.

Do you love the Bible? It is under attack from people who claim to be on our own side. Don't just gloss over that terrible fact! Help us defend it from the multitude of fools and traitors who are misleading people to the fires of hell in the name of Christianity.

Stand up and defend your love. Imposters in the church are ripping it apart as we speak. We must mount a compitent defense if the truth of Christianity is to prevail among us. The church has its own motto that was born out of the Lutheran Reformation. Like "This We'll Defend", it is a statement of love and stalwart defense in the face of those who would rob us of the divine freedom and truth found only in the gospel: "Here I Stand."

We are called to respectfully give a defense for the Gospel [1 Pet 3:13-22]. Every single one of us must study hard, pray for descernment, and look to the Holy Spirit to guide us in this sacred defense of the truth: That Christ died on the cross to save sinners from hell by grace alone through faith alone and that He was raised from the dead in accordance with the Scriptures. We must present this message faithfully and with gentleness, but we must also consistantly and forcefully contend for the faith.

Would that every Christian saw that it was their duty to preserve the truth and clear meaning of Scripture to the same degree that most Americans want to preserve the clear reading of our Constitution. The former is an eternal, divine revelation that is the only rescue for fallen humanity. The latter is just an agreement among the people of this nation to preserve temporary human freedoms that are ultimately of no eternal significance.

+Soli Deo Gloria+