{"id":47673,"date":"2013-07-04T04:45:20","date_gmt":"2013-07-04T03:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/happy-empire-day\/47673\/"},"modified":"2013-07-04T04:45:20","modified_gmt":"2013-07-04T03:45:20","slug":"happy-empire-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/breaking-news\/happy-empire-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Empire Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

by
\n <\/span><\/b><\/span><\/b><\/span>Laurence
\n M. Vance<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Recently
\n by Laurence M. Vance: War,
\n Christianity, and the State<\/a><\/i><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n \"\"<\/a>
\n <\/p>\n

The Fourth
\n of July is supposed to be celebrated as American Independence Day
\n \u2014 the day when the thirteen original colonies seceded from the British
\n Empire and its oppressive taxation, spying, regulating, and attacks
\n on due process (sound familiar?). <\/span><\/p>\n

As John
\n Adams<\/a> wrote to his wife about celebrating the nation\u2019s independence:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The Second
\n Day of July 1776 [the date the resolution of independence was
\n approved by Congress], will be the most memorable Epocha, in the
\n History of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated,
\n by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival.
\n It ought to be commemorated, as the Day of Deliverance by solemn
\n Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with
\n Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires
\n and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other
\n from this Time forward forever more. You will think me transported
\n with Enthusiasm but I am not. I am well aware of the Toil and
\n Blood and Treasure, that it will cost Us to maintain this Declaration,
\n and support and defend these States. Yet through all the Gloom
\n I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that
\n the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will
\n tryumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it,
\n which I trust in God We shall not.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

There is one
\n thing that Adams forgot to mention: adoration of the military. The
\n Fourth of July is now nothing but Military Appreciation Day Number
\n 2. <\/span><\/p>\n

Military Appreciation
\n Day Number 1 is Memorial Day. This holiday was first observed in
\n honor of Union soldiers who died during the War to Prevent Southern
\n Independence. It was initially called Decoration Day because the
\n tombs of the dead soldiers were decorated. Originally celebrated
\n in select localities, the holiday was first widely observed on May
\n 30, 1868, because of an earlier proclamation by General John Logan
\n of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans.
\n New York, in 1873, was the first state to officially recognize the
\n holiday. After World War I, the holiday was expanded to include
\n U. S. soldiers who died in any war. It is now just a day to honor
\n all things military.<\/span><\/p>\n

Military Appreciation
\n Day Number 3 is Veterans Day. This holiday began as Armistice Day
\n \u2014 a day to commemorate the signing of the armistice on the 11th
\n hour of the 11th day of the 11th month that ended fighting on the
\n Western Front in World War I, “the war to end all wars.”
\n A few years after World War II, the holiday was changed to Veterans
\n Day as a tribute to all soldiers who fought for their country. Veterans
\n Day has now become a day to honor, not just those who have served
\n in the military during wartime, but those who have served during
\n peacetime or are serving now. It is now just a day to honor all
\n things military.<\/span><\/p>\n

Independence
\n Day is now wholly given over to praising soldiers, thanking veterans,
\n reciting ridiculous slogans and poems about the military, and heaping
\n glory, laud, and honor ad nauseam on the troops.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nothing confirms
\n this more than an e-mail that was forwarded around the country beginning
\n the week before the Fourth of July. It begins:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Happy 4th
\n of July!…. Let\u2019s get this started NOW! So it will be out there
\n on the fourth!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

After the Pledge
\n of Allegiance, which no one should waste
\n his time reciting<\/a>, there are these three statements:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

For all of
\n our other military personnel, where ever they may be.
<\/span>Please
\n Support all of the troops defending our Country.<\/span><\/p>\n

And God Bless
\n our Military who are protecting our Country for our Freedom.
<\/span>Thanks
\n to them, and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.<\/span><\/p>\n

We must never
\n forget who gets the credit for the freedoms we have, of which
\n we should be eternally grateful.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Wherever they
\n me be? Like I have said on several occasions, most Americans don\u2019t
\n care where the troops go, how long they stay, and what they do when
\n they get there. Defending our country? Are there any U.S. troops
\n that are actually defending the country? It seems to me like they
\n are all overseas somewhere or on ship sailing where it has no business.
\n God bless our military? How blasphemous to ask God to bless the
\n greatest force for evil in the world. Protecting our country for
\n our freedom? U.S. soldiers don\u2019t protect anyone\u2019s freedom \u2014 just
\n ask this
\n former solider<\/a>. The military doesn\u2019t protect our freedom; it
\n stands by while our freedom is eroded and taken away. Thanks to
\n the military we can celebrate the 4th of July? The U.S. military
\n has never had anything to do with celebrating the 4th of July. Even
\n the first Fourth of July was not in any way dependent on the U.S.
\n military in any way. The Fourth of July celebrates the Declaration
\n of Independence, not the day the Revolutionary War ended. Never
\n forget who gets the credit? It is God who gets all the credit for
\n any freedoms we had or still have. It is the God of heaven that
\n we are eternally grateful for, certainly not the U.S. military \u2014
\n employees of the U.S. government. The greatest threat to freedom
\n has always been our own government, not some foreign country or
\n terrorist organization. And as James Madison said: “If tyranny
\n and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting
\n a foreign enemy.” Since the U.S. military is not strictly used
\n for the defense of U.S. borders, shores, coasts, and skies, it is
\n nothing more than the president\u2019s personal attack force staffed
\n by mercenaries willing to obey his latest command to bomb, invade,
\n occupy, and otherwise bring death and destruction to any country
\n he deems necessary.<\/span><\/p>\n

The three statements
\n are followed by this poem:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I watched
\n the flag pass by one day.
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease. <\/span><\/p>\n

I looked
\n at him in uniform;
so young, so tall, so proud.
With hair cut square and eyes alert,
He\u2019d stand out in any crowd.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought
\n how many men like him
had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil;
how many mothers\u2019 tears?<\/span><\/p>\n

How many
\n pilots\u2019 planes shot down?
How many died at sea?
How many foxholes were soldiers\u2019 graves?
NO, FREEDOM ISN\u2019T FREE!<\/span><\/p>\n

I heard the
\n sound of Taps one night,
when everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill. <\/span><\/p>\n

I wondered
\n just how many times
That Taps had meant \u2018Amen.\u2019
When a flag had draped a coffin
of a brother or a friend.<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought
\n of all the children,
of the mothers and the wives,
of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives. <\/span><\/p>\n

I thought
\n about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea.
Of unmarked graves in Arlington .
NO FREEDOM ISN\u2019T FREE!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Right, freedom
\n isn\u2019t free; but wrong, freedom isn\u2019t provided by the U.S. military.
\n I have asked the same questions as those in the poem: “How
\n many died on foreign soil?” “How many mothers\u2019 tears?”
\n I too have thought about the children, the mothers, the wives, the
\n fathers, the sons, the husbands, and the unmarked graves in Arlington.
\n The conclusion I have reached is this: What a senseless, unnecessary
\n waste of life for any U.S. solider to die on foreign soil or be
\n buried in an unmarked grave.<\/span><\/p>\n

The poem was
\n followed by these four statements:<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Enjoy Your
\n Freedom and God Bless Our Troops.<\/span><\/p>\n

When you
\n receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our
\n servicemen. <\/span><\/p>\n

Of all the
\n gifts you could give a U.S. Soldier, prayer is the very best one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Only two
\n defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ
\n and the American GI. One died for your soul, the other for your
\n freedom. You might want to pass this on … as many seem to forget
\n both of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

I will enjoy
\n the freedom I have left, until the government takes it away. I will
\n not ask God to bless
\n our troops<\/a>. I will say a prayer for our servicemen, but it will
\n be a prayer that they come home and stop fighting unjust foreign
\n wars, not a war
\n prayer<\/a>. Perhaps the most nauseating thing in this e-mail is
\n the last statement that equates soldiers with Christ. As I have
\n said elsewhere<\/a>:
\n Do soldiers imitate Christ when they bomb and shoot, when they invade
\n and occupy, when they plunder and pillage, or when they maim and
\n kill?<\/span><\/p>\n

So, until Military
\n Appreciation Day Number 3 comes around, happy Military Appreciation
\n Day Number 2.<\/span><\/p>\n

July
\n 4, 2013<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Laurence
\n M. Vance [<\/i>send him mail<\/i><\/a>]
\n writes from central Florida. He is the author of <\/i>King
\n James, His Bible, and Its Translators<\/a>, <\/i>The
\n Revolution that Wasn’t<\/a>, <\/i>Rethinking
\n the Good War<\/a>, <\/i>The
\n War on Drugs Is a War on Freedom<\/a>, and <\/i>Social
\n Insecurity<\/a>. His latest book is<\/i> War,
\n Christianity, and the State: Essays on the Follies of Christian
\n Militarism<\/a>. Visit <\/i>his
\n website<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Copyright
\n \u00a9 2013 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in
\n part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.<\/span><\/p>\n

The
\n Best of Laurence M. Vance<\/a><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Republished with permission from: Lew Rockwell<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Laurence M. Vance Recently by Laurence M. Vance: War, Christianity, and the State The Fourth of July is supposed to be celebrated as American Independence Day \u2014 the day when the thirteen original colonies seceded from the British Empire and its oppressive taxation, spying, regulating, and attacks on due process (sound familiar?). As John […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[487],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-47673","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-breaking-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}