The Bible, the Bayonet, and the Republic We Hope to Keep

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Americans of all political stripes are coming to grips with the disastrous potential of a militarized police force.After all, militarized police forces were the hallmark of Cold War-era Totalitarian regimes. In such governments, the police had all the power, and individual rights were nonexistent. Dissenters often mysteriously “disappeared”, or died under suspicious circumstances. From the old Soviet Union to China to North Korea and Cambodia and Cuba and El Salvador and Chile, militarized police have struck fear into the hearts of civilians.

While Americans are right to be concerned about this expansion of the Police State–given that, as government expands, freedom often contracts–we must also consider the realities that have driven this increased militarization of police. Those truths reflect a society at a crossroads.

A little over a week ago, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri–a suburb of St. Louis–shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown. One account–refuted by the autopsy–had the officer allegedly shooting Brown in the back, while another account had the officer shooting Brown even though he had his hands up, and still–yet another account, captured on video in the immediate aftermath–had the 290-pound Brown charging the officer.While Brown fit the description of a suspect in an armed robbery, the officer who shot him was unaware of that at the time.

These kinds of incidents are why we have a justice process. We must establish facts and reconcile them with the law. Make no mistake: the rule of law is more important than mobs and sound bites. After all, we are a nation founded on the rule of common law, which has its origins in the Old and New Testament. Moreover, our Constitution–in two different places, the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments–specifies that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without Due Process of the Law.Sadly, the Michael Brown shooting has sparked a number of riots that led to the looting and destruction of businesses and property, with some bloggers trying to justify them. While people are right to demand transparency and accountability in their government, we must resist the temptation to cave to the knee-jerk reactions that foment mob rule. Others have used the occasion to threaten “purges” in other cities such as Louisville.

Anyone who defers to mob rule over the justice process, is begging for more government and crying out for the very militarized police that breeds more police brutality.

Police militarization is barely more than 40 years old. Darryl Gates, the former LAPD chief, pioneered the use of Special Weapons And Tactics (SWAT) teams, intended for situations where criminals were of sufficient violence and weaponry to require such a response.

Since the Gates era, police departments across America have followed suit, insisting that the brutality of some criminals has necessitated a combat-ready police force. Sadly, the Miami FBI shootout of 1986, the LA riots of 1992, the North Hollywood shootout, and now the Ferguson riots of 2014, are all proving them correct.As a country, we have a choice to make. As Speaker Winthrop presciently observed, “Men, in a word, must necessarily be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without them; either by the Word of God or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet.“

In his inaugural address, President Reagan said, “Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of man, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.“The issue is whether Americans have the character to live as free men and women. Our system of common law and our Constitution were written by people who either were Christians or who were otherwise respective of the Christian consensus in America.

While Americans are not without their profound struggles–from the abolition of slavery to the Civil Rights movement–our advancements were reflective ofwho we were. It was the Christian consensus that led to the abolition of slavery. The Civil Rights movement was driven by Christians.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. won the hearts and minds of Americans through his authoritative proclamations and his commitment to peaceful resistance. He resisted the urge to give in to mob rule, and appealed to the very Christian fabric of Americans in making his case for racial equality. In doing so, Dr. King helped bring about substantive change while defusing a conflict that could have led to a catastrophic race war.

This is poignant, because mob rule leads to the bayonet. Disrespect of life, liberty, and property rights also leads to the bayonet. This is because when society embraces evil, this creates a need for more government–including a militarized police force–to contain that evil.