Since the assassination of Charlie Kirk, I’ve been tracking a disturbing trend: military members endorsing political violence to achieve left-wing ends. In this, we have seen far too many among those trusted with the weapons of war to protect the nation endorsing violence against fellow Americans for the purpose of achieving progressive political ends. Yet, there are critics who mislabel efforts to expose neo-Marxist revolutionaries in the ranks as right-wing thought policing. Why is it so crucial to confront the threat posed by troops who embrace murderous doctrines? The recent terrorist attack on a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints congregation in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, carried out by a military veteran, offers a tragic example.
I won’t dignify the terrorist by repeating his name, but will note his military background as a former Marine and Iraq war veteran. The Biden administration spent four years gaslighting the American public about an imaginary threat of ‘right-wing extremism’ in the U.S. military. Meanwhile, hostility toward constitutionalism found safe harbor in the national security complex. Too many among the troops became comfortable openly maligning Americans who hold to constitutional values as fascists, Nazis, and sexists, along with other multi-syllable slurs. To the war department’s credit, at least 12 of them who affirmed the assassination of Charlie Kirk have been suspended and placed under investigation thus far.
READ MORE: The First Amendment Is Not a Warranty for Blood Lust
Left-wing figures were quick to frame the Sunday attack as an example of “MAGA extremism.” This is rich coming from the same people who have made a recent tradition of framing conservatives in ways meant to elicit and justify violence. But we know the truth: conservatives don’t shoot at churches or schools. We seek to preserve liberty, live truth, and defend the Western heritage, which was passed down to us at great sacrifice by centuries of generations before.
The investigation into the terrorist’s motives is in its early stages, and we are currently in the fog of war, trying to ascertain the full measure of this evil beheld on Sunday in Michigan. What we can be sure of is that a man with military training and combat deployment experience put skills learned as a Marine to work for terror. This was a complex attack, making use of a vehicle to breach, followed by shooting, firebombing, and, reportedly, even making use of improvised explosive devices against Sunday worshippers. Military experience meant to protect and defend was employed to murder Americans.
A disturbing number of military members speak disdainfully of fellow Americans, using neo-Marxist coding. We saw on Sunday what those ideas look like when put into action. Was there a connection or correlation? What exactly was the thought model he used to justify such barbarity? That remains unknown to the public at present. Yet we know all too well from previous attacks against conservatives that hostile rhetoric precedes and inspires violent actions.
I keep ringing the bell about the prevalence of dark doctrines embraced by a growing percentage of those who serve in our armed services because I have seen the decomposing effect they have on trust, cohesion, and readiness. I have been witness to commissioned officers speaking of everyday Americans as deplorables. It’s also because history repeatedly shows that when military forces stray from their oath and identity as protectors, they risk becoming tools of evil. Wiser men told us to be on guard for this long ago. James Madison warned at the Federal Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia that “A standing military force, with an overgrown Executive will not long be safe companions to liberty. The means of defense against foreign danger, have always been the instruments of tyranny at home.”
The attack we saw Sunday was by a veteran who turned against his oath and became those for whom our oath of service rightly characterizes as “enemies, foreign and domestic.” Imagine how many others have the same training and likewise reject the belief that their responsibility is to serve and protect in favor of dismantling and deconstructing.
While the majority of our troops are committed patriots, even one rogue actor can cause immense harm. We’re at a critical juncture with open revolutionaries in the ranks, and it’s well past time to acknowledge and address it. Violent left-wing extremism in the armed forces remains a threat until those who reject their oaths are forced from the ranks with dishonorable characterizations of service. Discharge papers alone won’t change their beliefs, so we must also find ways to prevent these trained combatants from bringing their violence to the streets, as this former Marine did.
This fight is manifesting openly in the physical space with increased cadence. But it began in the spaces of spirituality and ideas. It is in those domains we must aggressively attack, subdue, and conquer for the sake of our time and future generations. Close Lamentations and open Nehemiah. We have work to do.
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