How about a little Applied History?
When Governor Faubus in 1957 ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Central High School to keep nine black students from entering the school, President Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division into Little Rock to insure the safety of the "Little Rock Nine" and that the rulings of the Supreme Court were upheld. It worked.
When Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett in 1962 refused to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling demanding desegregation at the University of Mississippi and the admittance of a Black man, James Meredith, President John F. Kennedy was forced to intervene, calling out some 31,000 National Guardsmen and other federal forces to enforce order. It worked.
States’ constitutional rights versus the constitutional power of the Federal Government offers room for honest debate, but in both a Republican administration and a Democratic administration, Black Lives did matter. Local prejudices were not allowed to trump the constitutional rights of individuals, nor the laws of the land as ruled upon by the SCOTUS.
Under what logical reasoning should citizens be justified in destroying federal property of any kind? If local officials refuse to defend federal property, why wouldn’t the Administration send in federal forces to defend federal property? And if federal forces are positioned on federal property and are then assaulted by protestors who are hurling objects at the officers, who could term such actions of the protesters turned rioters “peaceful”? Assaulting is not peaceful. And no doubt, many of the segregationists of Little Rock and Oxford in years long since passed maintained that sending in the troops only made the situation worse. (Yeah, right!) This, despite the fact that violence was “obvious” in both instances. The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes 1:9 that “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.” This is certainly true, including being true of human nature.
Property rights, respect for law enforcement officials, safety of public servants, respect for the laws of the land, and just plain common sense are all being cast aside by foolish leaders (and professional athletes) who lie about facts that are truthfully undeniable. Court houses, police stations, and other public properties are all easily identifiable. Federal forces dressed in riot gear are easily identifiable, and if I’m throwing a brick at a cop, obviously I was able to identify that he was a cop, so what’s all this about “undercover storm troopers”? And if I try to overturn and destroy by burning a government vehicle, why shouldn’t force be used to stop me? If I wish to be peaceful, why am I yelling in the officer’s face, violating the six-foot distance of social spacing, and throwing anything? Do I have an inalienable right to deface and destroy public property and to injure public servants?
If it weren’t for weak, scared, stupid elected officials at the local and state levels, this would hardly be a topic worth discussing, but it is because of the aforementioned. If, God forbid, Joe Biden becomes the President, will these riots immediately stop? And if they don’t stop, will local officials stop all “peaceful” protests that kill, loot, and destroy? And in what universe (or historic government) does a society function without a police force to maintain order? Please read and contemplate these two verses carefully. They are basic, simply stated, and very easy to understand, and they are given to us from God, not President Trump (1 Peter 2:13-14) “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.” Good citizens want a strong police force, criminals naturally and obviously do not.
1 Peter 2:13-14 was given by inspiration of God some 2,000 years ago and penned by the Apostle Peter. Democrat John Kennedy (whose principles would be shouted down by extreme leftists today) and Republican Dwight Eisenhower both understood what God said, and they acted upon it.
It has been said that “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” How about we learn good and effective history and repeat that? President John Kennedy would no doubt say that very thing, and call it “Applied History.”
Love and Prayers to you all,
Pastor