Onward Christian Soliders? Not Likely

August 27, 2014
by Fr. Dwight Longenecker

Excerpt:
See how it is assumed that the soldiers first of all, know what the Christian virtues are, and secondly, that they have an interest in pursuing them. They live in a moral universe. It is assumed that a man will be seeking to be the best man he can be–not just the richest man he can be. It is assumed that the soldiers will understand this moral quest, and even if they dismiss it, that they will at least know that they are dismissing something which is great and good.

Is such an awareness alive in our society today? I don’t see it.

Should the armies of the False Prophet Mohammed advance, and should we need to go into battle would we be able to summon the same Spirit of noble Christianity in our country today? I doubt it.

What strikes me about this artifact from the second world war is that this Bible was issued to the troops without question. It was seen to be part of their equipment and to be accepted by all with an open heart and mind.

This indicates that the whole population understood that the moral battles were also spiritual battles, and if there was a spiritual dimension to war, then there was also such a thing as spiritual warfare. Soldiers were expected to be equipped physically but they were also expected to be fit morally and spiritually.

Millions of young Americans went into battle across the world from a country that was truly Christian in its worldview and self understanding. They were not all knights in shining armor, they were a band of sinners, but they had a shared underlying faith and set of moral values. They understood that they were engaged in spiritual as well as physical warfare.

Furthermore, they were clear about their objectives. They were faced with an overwhelming and clearly evil force and they rallied to defeat it.

In the intervening seventy years our moral fiber has been so weakened by wealth, decadence and self indulgence that it seems unlikely not only that such a noble letter would be written from the White House, but that our own people would be able to respond with anything like the simple, noble spirit evidenced by this soldier’s Bible.  the rest image

Our country has suffered from a severe disintegration of our faith so that many no longer believe in the spiritual dimension of evil nor do they believe in the concept of good and evil at all. Instead “evil” is what does not work and “good” is what works. There is no need for virtue in utilitarianism.