“No weapon against me shall prosper.” That’s apparently “undisciplined” in the minds of some. Paintings of naked ladies on WWII fighters and bombers aren’t “undisciplined”. But if you have confidence that weapons won’t stop you, then the US Marines object.
Do the Marines’ brass want weapons to prosper against the US military? If not, then what is going on in the brass against Monifa Sterling?
Ultimately, this problem comes down to two factors, either one being sufficient to legitimize Sterling’s case. Order in the ranks includes a “nation under God”. Respect for the Bible comes atop all of those orders in the ranks. Presidents, Justices, and elected officials are sworn into office with a Bible. As long as “one nation under God” remains in writing and oaths of office use God’s Word, all military commands must respect that Word. It’s a matter of consistent policy. If the Bible and God didn’t have this, the argument would not be as strong.
Second, there is the “Rosa Parks” factor. People in the military disagreeing with Sterling generally make the same arguments that the Racist Religious Right Christian leaders made against Martin Luther King Jr. for “making waves” as it were. “Obey now, complain later,” already failed or we wouldn’t have gotten this far. If someone is going to say that “obey now, complain later” is the way to make things work, then there needs to be evidence that it has worked. Since Sterling was given the order multiple times, “obey now, complain later” failed multiple times.
So, just as with the Civil Rights Movement preached the truth that “change without waves” was their preferred option which was denied by the powers that be, so has a new Christian Rights Movement started with another young Black lady who just didn’t want to take anymore.
From Military Times…
Both lower court and the appellate court ruled that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act did not apply to her case because displaying a Bible verse does not constitute religious exercise.
Then, if it wasn’t religious, what was the lack of discipline? And who is the military to define religion? Joshua 1:8 says to meditate on Scripture day and night. Deuteronomy 6:9 says to write Scripture on the door frames of your house and your gates (gates were for the city, public, workplace, government.) The argument that her choices fall under “religious practices” is quite tenable since the Bible teaches to practice what she did.
The court even implied religious activity in it’s statement, and the opinion doesn’t seem to have anything to do with a “bare desk” in a workspace, which means that this was, in fact, about the court imposing their religious distaste for Christians, and the court was fully aware of what it was doing…
The implication is clear – the junior Marine sharing the desk and the other Marines coming to the desk for assistance would be exposed to biblical quotations in the military workplace. It is not hard to imagine the divisive impact to good order and discipline that may result when a service member is compelled to work at a government desk festooned with religious quotations.
By citing “religious quotations” (with no Scripture reference, mind you) as an argument against Sterling, then arguing that “religious practices” do not apply, the Marines’ brass seem to want their cake and eat it too.
According to FOX, Sterling is unemployed.
Not for long. The Christian public is getting involved. They are a forced to be reckoned with, not undermined. Church attendance has dropped, but Bible study is up, especially in the military.
Yes, George Washington wanted discipline. Did he ban Scripture? “Discipline” doesn’t mean enforcing every single bad rule that ever, ever, ever comes along. There is a limit and that limit is being pushed to the point of discussion. This will be discussed. This will go viral—it already has. People will talk about this. Copycats are likely. And if the military enforces, “discipline” that contradicts US policy with respect to God and the Bible, “discipline” will break down because the brass has redefined it.
For the sake of discipline in the military and for the sake of support for command from the public: Drop it. The brass, not Sterling, have invited breakdown in the chain of command by fighting battles that cost the war.
If the Marine leadership can’t figure out which battles to choose on “discipline”, how will they know military strategy in real war? Military leaders must know how to choose their battles wisely, first in the office, then on the battle field.
And their is another issue of finding Sterling’s statement offensive. Leaders must agree that no weapon fashioned against them can prosper. Anyone offended by such a confident statement—and such a confident Marine as Sterling—will not be as effective at inspiring others in the heat of battle.
This is a serious issue to anyone who knows what is happening with the 7th Fleet and China. The Beijing Communists who occupy Mainland China against the will of the Chinese people are about to make the same miscalculation. Few countries unilaterally recognize Beijing’s wild claims to territory and Beijing has chosen to keep a state of war on the books, making it’s own claim to Mainland China unresolved. Beijing’s thinking is that they want to keep the conflict going until they win every battle and every piece of land that has been claimed by Chinese dynasties, stretching back centuries.
Beijing’s thirst to “be right” has driven them to create man-made islands in Southeast Asia, creating even more land that will require resources to defend. For decades they wanted to control other islands, probably to place a military base. When none of that worked, they made their own islands. Now, Beijing has indirectly invited the 7th Fleet—all because they couldn’t declare victory and surrender the smaller battles.
Beijing’s problem is not only a problem of military strategy and intel. It’s a problem of culture. Even Chinese babies are allowed to get what they want by their parents so the baby can “save face”. They cry and cry until they get their way, from infants to senile, at home and the office, and even in war.
In principle, we are seeing the same mistake in Sterling’s chain of command.
This is a case about discipline, but not Sterling’s. It’s about old fat cat brass who want to “be right” who don’t deserve the honor of being Marines. The worthy leaders should instruct the younger Marines about how right Sterling was this one time—and how rare and unusual this situation is.
From the opinions of the court, it looks like text was allowed in her workspace, just not anything someone might recognize from Scripture, no matter how wise, inspiring, and true the idea may be. If all cubicles were banned from any posted text, then the military and the commenters and especially the court should have put that all over the news. It would have legitimized the military’s case against Sterling. But that is not the situation. Which means this is about discrimination and the courts know it.
Policy that allows naked ladies on airplanes, but not “No weapon against me shall prosper” in 28 pt font in a cubicle, is anything but arbitrary. Sterling wasn’t looking for a fight, brass was.
Then there is Heaven’s opinion. Jesus is higher than top brass. His feet glow like bronze. As King, Commander of the Hosts, and Judge, Jesus and all Heaven with him have their own opinion that we should at least respect.
Remember those stories in Faith Of The American Soldier by Stephen Mansfield? Remember all the “Angel sightings” and supernatural help that our troops kept talking about over the last decade plus? Remember how we have not had a military as religious as this generation since the Civil War? Angels fight with our soldiers as many soldiers know.
Those words that weren’t allowed on Sterling’s desk are words that Angels use like rockets. Banning the Word of God is an attempt at Angelic disarmament. Remember all the Angels who helped us. They did so because our enemies banned their “rockets” and we didn’t. We don’t want them to turn against us and they can. They were against our enemies we saw what happened. Don’t reverse the tables. We are a nation under God where brass bends the knee to Bronze in the sky.
The statement was true: No weapon against her shall prosper. Apparently some brass wants to test that and prove it right. In the words of Jack Reacher, “Remember, you wanted this.”
On this one, it’s best for the military to say… Oops. We got a little over-zealous for discipline. Discipline is necessary. But we forgot that discipline includes our friends in the sky and our own self-respect. Thanks for the reminder, Sterling. Our bad. Now, we need to drop it.
Yes, keep discipline, including discipline in top brass. With this one, single, not two, but this ONE situation… drop it, lest the top brass is insight a Christian Rights Movement backed by the real Commander the sky. Don’t put God, His Word, or His peaceful people to the test. Drop it. Drop it. Drop it.