A few months ago, alarmed by things happening under the Trump administration, especially related to the military, I contributed a post to the Reformed Journal. I would like to say that this follow-up post is to report that things have gotten better. That is what I would like to say. The fact is, however, that regarding the military and national defense, things have gotten worse. I could fill a book with examples. I’ll try to limit myself to a few.

Last week, I was in Washington, D.C., for a conference with active and retired members of the military. While there, we saw a lot of National Guard members. Having lived in D.C. for seven years, I have some familiarity with the crime issue there. What I saw was the National Guard patrolling places where they would get the most visibility from tourists and media, not areas with higher crime rates. I had short, polite conversations with a few of the Guardsmen. My impression from those conversations, along with reading many news sources about their presence in D.C., is that most of them would rather be home, with their families, doing their regular jobs, instead of walking around the block in Washington. Being in D.C. keeps them from serving their own cities and neighborhoods. It concerns me that the United States is disrupting the lives of these service members, at great expense to the taxpayers, for a publicity stunt.

What concerns me even more is the presence of armed military members patrolling streets inside the United States. I have lived in countries that were patrolled by the military, typically for the purpose of intimidation and forcing submission to those in power. I’ve neither seen nor read anything that leads me to believe that that isn’t the purpose of this display. We have a president who not only publicly voices admiration and respect for dictators and authoritarian regimes but also is mimicking their tactics.

During our time in Washington, we had a tour of the National Archives. While there we saw the original copies of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution (and yes, contrary to popular opinion among the supporters of the current administration, the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments are still in the Constitution and still guarantee ALL people due process). As current and retired members of the military, we were offered the opportunity to retake our oaths of office standing next to the Constitution. The oath states that we will “support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies foreign and domestic.”  

As I stood with my hand raised, literally standing next to the Constitution, I was convicted that fulfilling my oath means speaking out about the domestic threats to the Constitution we are seeing almost every day. One of those threats is a president who has publicly stated that he isn’t sure if he is required to defend the Constitution, even though the oath he took twice clearly requires him to do so.

I am alarmed that we as a nation are directly contributing to the deaths of thousands and potentially millions by ceasing lifesaving and life-sustaining support to people around the world. To those who say that isn’t our problem I refer them to the words of scripture. A pastor in the Christian Reformed Church wrote on Facebook that as a Christian he has no responsibility to help anyone outside of his family and neighborhood. I am not holding my breath waiting for his classis to ask him to explain that belief, which is clearly contrary to scripture and (for those who think this makes it even more important) contrary to the confessions. This is also a national security issue. A safer world is a more secure world. Anything we can do to support stability in other countries keeps us and the world safer.

I am also alarmed (and shocked) that the Navy was ordered to attack a boat that was suspected of carrying drugs and suspected of being manned by members of a cartel. This attack was a clear violation of international law, perhaps a war crime. It was also contrary to just war theory and the rules of engagement of the United States military. Sadly, it is usually the people who execute (no pun intended) the orders of others who end up paying the legal and spiritual price for this action, not the ones who ordered them to do it.

There is no reason to believe that this boat could not have been stopped, the drugs destroyed or confiscated, and the crew arrested, charged, and convicted if guilty. The United States Coast Guard has an excellent record of drug interdiction and using judicial process to enforce the law. That is the legal way to do it. That is the constitutional way to do it. That is the moral and ethical way to do it. But that is not the way this administration is doing it.

I could also write about demeaning fellow image-bearers of God, insulting allies, ignoring judicial rulings, established a de facto secret police agency that violently enforces the law without regard for normal procedures, deporting American citizens, accepting massive bribes, breaking treaties (we’ve failed to defend Ukraine as we promised to do and, so far, have failed to support Poland as we’ve promised to do) … but I will end with this: Trust in leadership is essential to the military. When serving an administration that lies about everything from employment statistics to crime rates to the price of gasoline, how can a service member trust that the orders they are given are lawful and support the greater good?

Many senior leaders have been fired already, some for speaking the truth and others for not demonstrating sufficient loyalty to the president. As members of the military are given more and more questionable orders, at least some leaders will decide that they can no longer violate their oath (as some have already). Many of them will make that decision because of their faith, so the very people I believe we need serving – people with a strong spiritual, moral, and ethical foundation – will no longer be able to do so. That will leave us with a military led by those ready to do whatever they are ordered, no matter how illegal or immoral. We’ve seen what that looks like too many times in world history. Is this what we want to see America become today?