(On December 1, 1996 I was baptized a Christian in the First Baptist Church here in our community. As time progressed I discovered that I had some disagreements with the church regarding certain issues that my pastor was never able to clear up with me beyond accepting certain ideas on faith. For example, I asked him what would happen to the six million (some reports state as many as ten million) Jewish human beings slaughtered during the Second World War, to wit my minister replied, "Well, that's not for us to decide; it's for God to judge when Christ returns." That did not settle well with me and I decided that I would not return to church until I had settled that theological and existential struggle within myself first. It has been nearly thirteen years and--although I am satisfied that the Jews [as well as the mentally disabled] are the first to enter the Kingdom of Heaven--the mystic in me is still traveling along, seeking answers to other questions the church cannot answer to my full satisfaction. Nevertheless, I came upon an HBO documentary on Google Video and YouTube called, "Soldiers in the Army of God" and--well--I just had to offer my layman's opinion regarding this extraordinary film. In seven parts, of course. Here, then, are my responses.)
1.
I have just completed watching this remarkable HBO documentary ["Soldiers in the Army of God"] and found it as disturbing as it is troubling. It is important, however, to keep in mind that we are looking at a camp of thought with the Soldiers in the Army of God movement that does not represent the church as a whole or mainstream Christianity. God commands clearly, "You will not kill." I consider myself a Christian mystic to certain degrees; I consider myself a saved, baptized Baptist...
2.
I consider myself a saved, baptized Baptist...[b]ut I am also pro-choice. I wholeheartedly support and defend a woman's right to choose. Yes, I do favor encouraging options other than viewing abortion as a form of birth control. In that aspect I'm definitely pro-life. Still, attempting to remove a woman's right to have an abortion (regardless of her reason(s) for doing so) is against the law and woefully against Scripture. Resorting to terrorism and violence in an effort to end abortion...
3.
Resorting to terrorism and violence in an effort to end abortion...[is] absolutely horrific and has no place whatsoever in Christianity--or in any other dynamic of society, for that matter. Certainly not in the culture procured and elevated by the United States of America (or any other nation striving to eventually call itself totally, completely free). It is particularly distressing when you consider the historical significance of America's basis of existence: Christianity--freedom of...
4.
Christianity--freedom of...[religion]; or, at the very least, the inalienable right to pursue religious and/or spiritual ambitions without bringing harm to other human beings resulting from propagating violent mores. In the case of this cult, Soldiers in the Army of God, one may understand their pseudo-providence--their "divine superintendence"--without digging much deeper than some of their seriously mentally ill leaders. The acts of violence and murder committed by such radicals is as...
5.
[...]committed by such radicals is as...atrocious as the nineteen radical Islamic extremists who--doing the bidding of OBL on September 11, 2001--suicide-bombed the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and tried to take out the White House, too! A terrorist [or a group of terrorists] is the same, no matter the guise he (or she) may assume. That is why the cult of the Soldiers in the Army of God ought to be considered a terrorist organization--nothing more, nothing less. Anyone associated with these...
6.
Anyone associated with these...[creeps] posing as radical, pro-life Christians should be questioned thoroughly (to the fullest extent of the law)--even if they are merely somewhat associated with any of these reprehensible jackals. I pray the United States government leans heavily on its programs and policies implemented as a result of the Patriot Act, utilizing Homeland Security objectively to process what has obviously evolved into a network of terror cells whose clearly defined purpose...
7.
...[Whose clearly defined methodology] includes (without limitation) the recruitment of like-minded individuals, psychiatric and physiological training, hyper-extensive social networking within the parameters of a specific racial, gender-specific, and socioeconomic class whose intensive climate renders newly approached recruits [almost] incapable of leaving before their minds are completely formatted to commit terrorist acts in the name of the group dynamic: Soldiers in the Army of God. © 2009
***
(Soldiers in the Army of God is available for viewing at http://www.youtube.com in seven parts.)
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