Incoming!

“There are no atheists in fox holes.”

That is a favorite expression of my US Army friends. We Marines call it a “fighting position” but the connotation is the same. When NATO ball and tracers are outbound and 7.62 (AK-47) cracks overhead, soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines – combatants of all size and shape – either love or hate God. Period. Some pray to Allah, some to Ra, but they all pray to somebody. I would go as far as to say 99 percent of the time you will hear, “Oh God!” and never once will you hear, “Oh void nothingness after death.” Add to that the rich tradition of combat units having Chaplains nearby to administer last rights, not because Navy Chaplains particularly like pain, blood, and depravity of war, but because soldiers and Marines want – no NEED – closure on a life cut short. Even Hollywood gets that part right.

You will appreciate my concern, then, with a recent decision by US Air Force Colonel Stacy Huser, commander of F.E. Warren Air Force Base just outside Cheyenne, Wyoming. According to FOX News reporter Todd Starnes, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) sued on behalf of 36 clients (of a total 3,738 military and civilian employees)[1] at Warren AFB and successfully convinced Huser to remove the Bible from Warren’s time-honored and revered POW/MIA table.[2] That's right, less than 1 percent of the population of Warren AFB complained - so the Bible was removed.

Many first reactions range from anger to befuddlement, not unlike reactions to highly paid athletes kneeling during the anthem. In military circles where friends and family died or were horribly maimed to protect athletes’ rights to protest or 36 people's right to reject the Bible, such a choice hurts. But what is the right reaction? What is the Christian reaction? What is the Christian’s proper response to political and ideological attacks on such revered traditions within an organization that is clearly governmental?

Ok, to be honest my first response was outrage. That response is understandable, right, because the Marine in me tends to leap first and ask questions later. However, the older and wiser Sprit of God living in me quickly gains control of the reigns and asks me “what would Jesus do?” Well, it turns out that question is not as easy to answer as you might think because nowhere in the Bible does Jesus ever tell us how to handle secular attacks against POW/MIA memorials.

However, Jesus charges us to be witnesses to our heavenly Father everywhere and at all times.

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:14-16, NIV)

But he does not tell us to leave the prophets (scripture in Jesus’ day) laying around in memoriam of those we have lost. Jesus also directs us to follow the laws of the land because those laws are enacted by a just leader for our safety and benefit, and at God’s election.

“Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s” (Luke 20:25, NIV)

“’Do you refuse to speak to me?’ Pilate said. ‘Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?’ Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.” (John 19:10 – 11, NIV)

“He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.” (Dan 2:21, NIV)

So it seems our conundrum remains. What would Jesus do?

As much as it might pain me to admit it, considering the US Air Force is a branch of the Department of Defense and the DoD is a department within the government of these United States of America, the answer appears painful and obvious. Move the Bible to the chapel and wait for Satan’s minions to expend their energy and money on the next meaningless attack. I say meaningless because a clean Bible sitting at the POW/MIA table by any other name is as effective at evangelizing the lost as you or I might be at finding an atheist in a fighting position when the high explosive artillery is walking closer – 90 meters, 50 meters, 30 meters...

At ease, readers. Col. Huser clarified the “Book of Faith” is just an empty journal – not some watered down Christianity or amalgam of Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity and Judaism. It’s just a blank book. Interestingly enough, the “Book of Faith” is a clean slate – something Jesus promises when we accept him as our savior.

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!” (2 Cor 5:17, BSB)

Always look for the silver lining, because God will provide where Hate divides!

(Photo courtesy of Fox News and Todd Starnes - see footnote #2)

[1] 90th Missile Wing, “90 MW Fact Sheet.” F.E Warren Air Force Base. Last Modified February 27, 2018. Accessed July 19, 2018. http://www.warren.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/331279/90-mw-fact-sheet/

[2] Starnes, Todd. “Todd Starnes: Air Force surrenders to demand to replace Bible with generic ‘book of faith’ on POW/MIA table,” FOX NEWS (online). July 19, 2018. Accessed July 19, 2018 at http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2018/07/19/todd-starnes-air-force-surrenders-to-demand-to-replace-bible-with-generic-book-faith-on-powmia-table.html