This We Will Defend

It is time for Catholic men to remember their spiritual ancestors, the Crusaders, and stand up for the Faith! 

From Catholic Stand 

By Tom Collingwood

Every branch of the American military has a motto. “This we’ll defend” is the U.S. Army’s motto going back to the Revolution. In many respects, it could also serve as the motto for our country’s law enforcement agencies. In these turbulent times, it is now time for every Catholic and fellow Christian to consider that motto and develop a vigilance to defend home, family, but also our faith, our churches, our faith’s symbols, and especially our faithful.

The aftermath of George Floyd‘s death has gone way beyond the pleas and protests for the cause for racial justice to an opening for the “thugs” in our mists to emerge. There has been what many call the great “hijacking” of that cause that is playing out in all kinds of destructive modes.

The Hijack

The examples multiply every day. There is an understandable rationale for why Afro- Americans want to take down certain Confederate memorials. However, there is a process in place that has been used many times in the past to do that and in an orderly fashion. The mob tearing down statues and memorials is just that- a mob. Once a mob, there is no “cause” except destruction for its own sake. When the mob moves to tear down and defame statues of Grant, Washington, Teddy Roosevelt, Civil War Union Generals who fought to free the slaves and were abolitionists, and even World War II memorials the motive becomes clear.

The thugs are using the indignation over Confederate symbols as the opportunity to openly attack and destroy our nation and its symbols which are their stated goals. While most agree that the concept of “black live matters” is to bring attention to racial issues to encourage all to work on those problems, the formal BLM organization is another matter. Hawk Newsome, President of Black Lives Matter (BLM) in New York was quoted “if this country doesn’t give us what we want, then we will burn down this system and replace it”.  The BLM organization’s platform, materials, and founders talk of bringing down our country, defunding of police, dissolution of the nuclear family, and installing socialism. That formal organization, along with others like Antifa, have shown themselves as opportunist groups that use the current crisis to stoke the fires of anarchy. Yet, the media, many local governments, and even some church leaders have bought into the false narratives being promoted by such groups whose real agenda is to use the current situation to destroy our culture not deal with the problems.

The Assault on the Faith

These thugs have moved on and are now targeting our faith. Statues of Fr. Junipero Serra and Christopher Columbus have been torn down. Of note is that another BLM activist Shaun King has said that it is permissible to tear down the statues of Jesus Christ that show him with European features because they “support white supremacy”. Churches are being damaged and defaced in violent protests all over the United States and now is occurring abroad.

More seriously, a Catholic woman with her small children was harassed and threatened by a BLM activist with a baseball bat and yelling anti- Christian epithets while saying a rosary in a public square. The man moved on and after causing further disturbances was finally arrested. What happened next is an indication of how far this has come  His arrest sparked protests and riots that night, including the destruction of historic statues, firebombing of a County building, widespread vandalism and the beating of a state senator who was photographing the unrest. Riots occurred because a dangerous perpetrator was arrested!  We have reached a point where any excuse to let the “barbarians” out is used even if it is over the necessary arrest of a dangerous man.

These barbarians, thugs, hooligans, goons (pick a favorite term) have been emboldened and allowed to do this by an irresponsible government response especially at the local level; and support over the years by an educational system has that has taught that America and Christianity are basically bad and racist. Add to that a culture that supports absolute rights to express oneself in any manner with no need for self-restraint or discipline and this is what we get. It is not only turbulent and destructive but dangerous.

The Defenders

The police are being vilified, not supported by many city governments, and it is truly a testimony to their dedication to duty that they keep trying to keep order. They are sorely stretched and can’t always respond to the many civil disturbances peaceful and otherwise. Likewise, many of their civil authorities have ordered them to stand down and let the mob do its damage. As a consequence, when the thugs start coming after our faith symbols, churches, and believers the only line of defense may be the faithful. It is time for us to recognize this threat is a reality that is out there and stand up and fill the breach if necessary.

There are no ready answers or quick solutions to how we should respond to potential threats except to say that the first step is vigilance. There are, however, existing models and resources in our faith community. Over the years, the Knights of Columbus have stood up to defend against bigotry and physical violence including the KKK in the early 20th century and we have an extensive network tied to parishes.

A current example, established before the COVID 19 crisis hit, was our parish pastor establishing a network of “Sentinels”. We are volunteer parishioners (the majority being Knights) who were trained to assist in a variety of potential crisis situations that could occur at Masses and other Church events such as fire, weather events like tornadoes, medical emergencies, and the more serious  “active shooter” situation. While just one example, I would suggest that we Knights as well as all Catholics and fellow Christians recognize that we are in a new time of peril and we need to seek ways to defend.

From an Aging Defender

As I am approaching my 80th decade in little over a year I recognize that what I am discussing may be viewed, by some, as the rambling and rants of one past his prime. However, as discussed in a previous post, I have had some experience over the years in these matters from both the law enforcement and community side of the many issues. It is popular to describe passionate causes as “Wars” and our government has used that term to get support for particular efforts to confront a problem.  In terms of the “This, we’ll defend:” motto, I have been involved in several of such wars over the years: the war on communism, the war on drugs, the war on crime and delinquency, the war on prejudice and the war on the sanctity of life. Throughout, I am always reminded of Edward Burke’s famous quote “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”.

The old warrior in me cannot sit on the sidelines. I will still stand up to “defend” by being vigilant, by expressing my voice (like here), by supporting our police, by confronting the false narratives and if necessary to physically defend my church, its symbols, and especially the faithful and can do no less.

Put on the whole armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand (Ephesians 6:11-13).