Rural Oregon Citizens take Ownership of Police Duties - Part Two

Dear Readers,

In part one, we talked about what the Josephine County Sheriff's Office did in response to the voters there voting down a new tax levy.

In my opinion, the drastic action on the part of the Sheriff's department is probably a situation where someone in government is being vindictive because the citizens voted down new taxes - and now they would "get even" by making drastic cuts in an effort to make the citizens feel it.

All in the same way that President Obama tried to show his vindictiveness by unnecessarily closing unsecured open-air national monuments that did not cost the taxpaying public any money.

He did so all as a vindictive act to show the American public that he is King and we are just peasants.

In the case of the Josephine County Sheriff's Office, after the cuts, they released a few very surprising statements.

One announcing their deputies "would only be responding to what they deemed life-threatening situations."

The other told their citizens that they may want to relocate out of the county because the department could not protect them as a result of the cuts.

Josephine County Citizens Step Forward

The citizens of Josephine County have an independent streak that's fairly common in the rural America, and especially in that part of Oregon just north of the California border.

The area was settled during the 1850s gold rush and has a proud tradition of being self-reliant.  Surprising as it might be to some, the residents in that part of Oregon consistently vote Conservative.


The county is filled with the history of the American West. There are abandoned mines, mining camps now overgrown with trees and brush. Besides the small "towns" that dot across the county, there are ranches and farms and logging. In fact, the county still has just one remaining sawmill in operation.

Yes, some folks in Josephine County, which is actually larger than the state of Rhode Island, don't care for the Sheriff Office's attitude and are taking matters into their own hands.

Citizens are now taking over the duties of the County Sheriff's deputies..

Yes, they are in fact stepping forward, strapping on pistols and are volunteering to guard communities themselves.

One such citizen is Sam Nichols, a retired marina manager. He has organized a posse of about a dozen fed-up residents who have started patrolling the small community of O'Brien with its 750 residents.

"I believe in standing up for myself rather than waiting for the government to do something for me," said Sam Nichols, a retired marina manager.

"We call ourselves the CAC Patrol, Citizens Against Crime," he said.

Another CAC Patrol member, Glenn Woodbury, an electrical supplies distributor, wears a .45-caliber automatic pistol in a shoulder holster when he goes out.

He says he carries the weapon only for protection and that members of the patrol consider it their primary responsibility to gather information, such as a license plate number, that would allow deputies to make an arrest.

Since the patrols started a few months ago, group members have reported a wildfire being set and someone trying to break into an SUV. The police log in the Grants Pass Daily Courier shows five thefts or burglaries in O'Brien from January through July, but none since August.

"These people know they no longer own the night," Woodbury said of potential criminals.

"They can't back a pickup up to somebody's home when you've got patrols watching," he added.

At the O'Brien crossroads, a flashing yellow light and a '50s-era police car, parked permanently on the shoulder, slow what passes for traffic in front of the general store, post office, gas station, restaurant, and RV park.

There also is a bar with a sign proclaiming, "Bikers Welcome."

Nichols says he decided to start the patrols after someone stole a travel trailer from his property over the summer.

He called a community meeting in August and wore a .38 special revolver, handed down from his father, in a leather holster on his belt.

About 100 people showed up, one of whom recognized a photo of his trailer and knew where it had been stashed.

Sheriff Gilbertson, however, declined to try to retrieve it.

"I didn't have the resources to deal with it at that time," the sheriff said. "Pretty much, what we're doing now is person-to-person crime."

Taking Ownership When Others Fail To Do So

In response, members of the CAC Patrol have taken to slapping magnetic gold stars and flashing amber lights on their vehicles to keep watch over the community on their own. Many carry pistols and plastic ties for handcuffs.

"If we stand shoulder to shoulder, they don't have a chance," Nichols said. "And that's what we're doing."

Another such citizen is retired law enforcement officer Ken Selig, who was the longest-serving law enforcement officer in all three local agencies when he was forced to retire from the department due to previous cuts.

He told Fox News that he found the Sheriff’s Office press release to be completely unacceptable. So this angry citizen felt compelled to guard his community’s vulnerable members.

“Who else is going to protect you when your government can't?” Selig said.

Selig and his friend Pete Scaglione formed the North Valley Community Watch, a county-wide organization dedicated to helping citizens in non-life-threatening situations, primarily property crimes.

It is important to note that the North Valley Community Watch group is just one of a handful of community groups that have formed since the cuts.

Fact is, without a highly staffed Sheriff's Office, their mission is broader than the typical neighborhood watch group.

Up in Josephine County in Oregon, Mr Selig's community watch group is filling in the law enforcement cracks and now meets once a month to discuss crime and teach its approximately 100 members about personal safety.

Believe it or not, the group also has a trained “response team,” which consists of 12 people who will respond to the scene of a reported non-life-threatening situation if called.

Though the “response team” members do carry legal firearms, Mr Selig said the team’s main goal is to provide a deterrent presence, and that none of them have ever fired a shot.

He said those involved in his group believe there is no substitute for well-trained law enforcement, but they feel they have no other choice but to protect their community.

“We believe responsible citizens doing responsible things make it hard for criminals to do irresponsible things,” he said.

Mr Selig believes politics are behind the county government’s decision to not funnel what funds they do have toward law enforcement.

To show how savvy Mr Selig is, he says the county government seems to be pressuring the citizens to pass an additional tax hike they cannot afford.

“The key is to get the funding somewhere where the local people can get the services they need,” Selig said.

Here's The Difference

The other side as represented by Josephine County Commissioner Keith Heck who said residents of the county that opposed the tax levy need to realize there is no fat to cut.

Heck said the county has tried to live within the bounds of its fiscal realities, but citizens need to realize the options for paying for law enforcement are limited.

"The county coffers are at the bottom of the barrel," he said.

Heck said, though he supports neighborhood watch groups and citizens being vigilant in their community, the rise of increasingly “aggressive” community watch groups make him worried the situation could escalate to violence.

Of course there are no cases of such going on yet, but that doesn't stop the Pro-Bigger Government groups to point out that Neighborhood Watch Groups have been under increasing scrutiny nationally ever since the George Zimmerman case in Florida.

It doesn't matter if George Zimmerman used deadly force against Trayvon Martin who was trying to kill him, the Liberal media has given Sainthood to Martin  - deserved or not.

Referring to Neighborhood Watch Groups stepping forward and taking ownership of the situation, Commissioner Heck threw a jab at the citizens banding together to furnish their own security, by saying, “These things seem good on the PR side but fail a little in the reality side.”

Yet, what the Commissioner failed to mention is that since the citizens have stepped forward and assumed ownership of thier liberties, crime in down because patrols are now being conducted in areas that the local government wrote off as not being critical.

While citizen groups are forming and patrols are up, information is also getting out by way of web posses.  And yes, in many ways, these posses are functioning better than calling 911.   

Web Posse?

While some have put together physical patrols, others citizens have put together a virtual neighborhood watch and uses Facebook to share tips and information.

One retired sheriff's deputy has started a Facebook page called "To Catch a Thief," an open group that has nearly 1,200 members who post reports of crimes that aren't priorities for the county sheriff's office.

"In a rural community like this, we all know each other, and we're all related," said Carol Dickson, who started the group about three months ago and posts regularly.

"People know who's doing this," she said of the property crimes around Cave Junction, a town of nearly 2,000 people about 30 miles from the county seat of Grants Pass.

"They are getting tired of it," Dickson said. "They are speaking up, and they are saying, `Enough!'"

For her part, Dickson, who retired from the Josephine County Sheriff's Office before Sheriff Gilbertson was elected and has frequently been at odds with the man who replaced her old boss, says her digital network has helped make the Illinois Valley safer.

She says her group has tracked down stolen property, including several cars, and even helped deputies arrest a man on drug charges.

Despite her differences with Sheriff Gilbertson, she won't let people post rants about the sheriff's department. And yes, many agree when she says her group serves a vital function.

"When you have tweakers and drugs, you're going to have thefts and burglaries," she said, citing methamphetamine abuse as the root of many of the property crimes in the area.

Dickson says there isn't enough space in the county jail and that deputies don't pursue property crimes as they should.

She said criminals "know they aren't going to get punished." She added, "Nobody gets arrested. Nobody gets charged."

So What Do The Police Say?

Remember, Josephine County has a population about 83,000, recently lost $12 million in federal timber county subsidies.

The jail, sheriff's patrols, prosecutors, probation officers and juvenile programs have all been cut. Cuts that the county were sure that the citizens would remedy with even more taxes.

County lockup has room for 69 inmates – only enough space for the worst offenders. As a result, theft and burglary suspects are regularly turned loose, supposedly only to be picked up later for new crimes.

Detractors of the citizen posses say that is a result of voting no for higher taxes and citizens doing the job of deputies.

Supporters say that's higher taxes are just legalized extortion, and it is taking ownership of their security was just a logical step to alleviate crime.

Besides, those wanting more taxes are trying to make the situation - both before and after the cuts as it was not. 

For example, reports have it that there was a revolving door at the jail long before the cuts ever took effect - definitely before the citizens stepped forward to take ownership of the situation.

Can Citizens Do The Job? 

It might just turn out to better security coverage than simply depending on the police for everything.

Nichols nor Dickson doesn't think the sheriff would do a better job of protecting their end of the county with more resources. And from reports up there, they are right.

They both voted no on a tax proposal to make up the $12 million loss and say they would do so again if county commissioners brought the issue back up.

Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson says he's glad for the help but warns that law enforcement is dangerous work.

"They need to really understand there are consequences that can be very costly, physically as well as legally," he said, explaining that volunteers could get sued or shot if they pull a gun on someone or make a false arrest.

"Most of them haven't had what I feel is an adequate level of training to do that they do," he said. "But if they serve as eyes and ears and only report what they see to law enforcement, I think they can keep themselves at a safe level."

And yes, I'd say that's fairly magnanimous for a man who told folks to flee the county!

One policing expert Dennis Kenney, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, says neighborhood watch efforts can be positive but turn into problems when volunteers "decide that instead of supplementing law enforcement, they are going to replace law enforcement. Then you cross potentially into vigilantism."

Kenney said vigilantes tend to get "out of control – especially when people are armed."

He added that "people drawn to this sort of thing are the kinds of personalities more likely to take it too far."

Besides that rural area being nothing like New York City, Nichols who started CAC says what his group is doing is "not vigilantism at all."

"If it was, we would have taken care of a couple of problems a long time ago," he added. "Because we knew who they were, and where they lived."

What Kenney fails to mention is the historical significance of citizens "replacing law enforcement."

Before there were organized law enforcement agencies, citizens took care of things themselves.

For hundreds of years before the advent of organized Police Departments in the United States, it was up to the citizenry to provide for their own security.

Organized police departments did not really exist in the United States until the early 1820s, a little less than two hundred years ago.

I know someone will write to tell me about the Roman Centurions and so on, but in reality most security in ancient times were conducted by their military.

The citizenry, through either obligatory service or volunteerism ensured the security for most for hundreds of years - especially in smaller villages and towns of no military importance and subsequently no military presence.

Unlike people in cities like San Francisco or Seattle, the citizens of Josephine County Oregon are rural independent folks who are not used to depending on the government for much more than being a pain in the rump.

They fend for themselves and wouldn't think twice about policing themselves.

When the cuts took place, the residents there did exactly that and decided to take matters into their own hands by creating Neighborhood Watch and Citizen Watch groups - including armed patrols.

Yes there is an angst on the part of County Officials.

Like it or not, these citizens groups are doing the job in direct defiance of local officials.

Government authorities are spending a lot of their time and money in an effort to spread the false story that the decision of the citizenry to take ownership of their own security has raised safety concerns.

And yes, the county government would prefer residents instead hike their own taxes to fund the hiring of trained deputies.

While the county authorities voice dire consequences to citizens providing their own security, such as, "despite the risks, the move stands as a unique, some would say innovative, response to one of the country's most severe local budget crunches."

So what has been the motivation for citizens to take things into their own hands?

Historically, since the establishment of organized police departments, citizen groups have taken over the policing of their towns, cities, or counties, for only a few reasons:

1) when crime is so rampant and there is not enough paid law enforcement to do the job, 2) when the police are so corrupt that the lawlessness is part of the city or county government, 3) when city or county government is so corrupt that their is no law enforcement to handle the problem, or 4) when the economy demands changes because of cuts to services and some sort of supplementation such as volunteerism is required.

Whether it's citizens taking it upon themselves to mow the lawns around city hall, or supplement cross-guards or bus drivers or a local fire departments by including more volunteer fire-fighters, it is nothing new for citizens to step forward and assume the jobs that need to be done when fiscal cuts are made.

It has been my experience that during great economic times people don't mind putting out more money, but during hard times of high unemployment and raising prices both at the gas pump and the grocery shelves - all of our pennies are looked at.

Because the unemployment rate in Josephine County Oregon is well above 10%, I'm not surprised that they do not want their taxes raised to pay for more officers - especially when it is unjustified because crime is down and there are citizens who are experienced to help organize and conduct security without the police.

The Local Government Is Threatened

Typical of most County Officials who see higher taxes as the only solution to problems, Mr Heck said the only real solution is for the county citizens to approve more funds through higher property taxes.

Using a Christmas analogy, Heck went on to say, "There is this little shimmer out there of some giant Santa that is going to come and drop all this money on us because we are well-meaning folks. The sleigh is broken, the deer are dead, it’s not going to happen. We have to figure out how we are going to solve this problem."

That's Code for: We want more of your money, like it or not.

And no, guys like Heck don't usually spend a lot of time looking for places to cut waste or stop the program that has been a sink hole for taxpayer dollars.

They usually shoot for the easy target of raising taxes and taking taxpayer money. And please, please don't kid yourself - we are all taxpayers in one way or another.

And yes, while Mr Heck may be taken as being very clever with his use of saying that Santa is not coming to the county's rescue with more tax dollars from others - it's too bad that Mr Heck did not use the other Christmas analogy.

He should have made reference to the fact that when Joseph and Mary were informed that that there was no room at the inn - that they did not simply give up looking for options.

Instead, looking for a place to rest, they settled on less luxurious accommodations and settled on what some would consider horrible conditions.

I don't know anyone who couldn't use more money for this or that. We'd all love to afford what we cannot.

Like most of us who cannot simply ask others to simply raise our salaries and income, or simply raise the level of our retirement, or get others to simply deposit more money in our savings, cities and counties across America have to live within their means.

Why do people like Keith Heck always see raising taxes as the only solution?

Voters are tired of constantly being asked for more tax money to pay for outrageous salaries, unnecessary equipment, huge ridiculous retirement packages, and government waste - then have guys like Heck say the voters need to approve more funds.

Government bureaucrats hate it when citizens like Nichols and Selig and others create solutions without raising taxes.

In this case by forming volunteer security organizations like neighborhood watch groups which are really no different than volunteer fire departments and other citizen's groups to fill the purpose.

So why would Government Bureaucrats hate seeing citizens step forward?

It is because they don't like the taxpayers seeing that those programs or people or agency was really not that important in the bigger scheme of things.

Government hates it when citizens learn that the Government is not needed.

Government services are not needed when it becomes too expensive to keep. When government is so expensive that its citizens suffer at the cost of keeping government employees sitting pretty, government services may have to be curtailed.

As in the case of law enforcement and fire, citizens can come together to find out just how little they really need the government.

Citizens can provide their own "essential services" - especially when it comes with a heavy price tag of legalized extortion by way of higher taxes.

Either way, taxes or extortion, it is a price tag that more and more Americans simply can't afford. And in response, yes, they are taking ownership of their own services including security.


Tom Correa

Rural Oregon Citizens take Ownership of Police Duties - Part One

Dear Readers,

It's not everyday that I read a story that makes me angry and happy at the same time.

I got a little angry when I read that Josephine County Oregon Sheriff had advised the residents of that county to "relocate" because of budget cuts after the voters there did not vote in favor of higher taxes.

Scare tactics and making the situation appear dire is not what I would accept from a County Sheriff, that sort of action jumps the line between working for the public and simply being a cheap self-serving politician.

I was very happy when I read that the citizens up there confronting him by stepping forward to take ownership of their security and replace the County Sheriff's Deputies by assuming their duties.

What happened?

On December 26, 2013, Fox News Stephanie McNeal wrote a story entitled "Citizens take law into own hands after cash-strapped Ore. county guts sheriff's office"

In her article she talked about how "budget woes reduced the sheriff's department in one rural Oregon county to a bare-bones force."

She reported, "the government in Josephine County, where nearly 70 percent of the land is owned by the U.S. government, had long relied on federal timber subsidies to pay the bills. When the feds terminated the funds, county officials scrambled to pass a May 2012 tax levy to make up a nearly $7.5 million budget shortfall."

However, the county's residents voted against the levy, and as a result the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office was gutted.

With that vote, the County Sheriff closed the major crimes unit, ordered dozens of prisoners released from the county jail, and reduced his department's operations to Monday through Friday - and only eight hours a day.

Opinions are split as to whether his actions were a direct result of the cuts that needed to be made, or simply as an Obama type of vindictiveness where someone in government got angry and decided that the citizens who voted down new taxes needed to feel his wrath.

Either way, after the vote cuts took place. And after the cuts, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office issued a press release announcing their deputies "would only be responding to what they deemed life-threatening situations."

The County Must Be Having A Crime Wave? 

On the contrary! Overall crime, according to county statistics is at a 4 year low.

Back in October, 2013, the Josephine County Sheriff’s Office released its crime statistics for the county - and those stats show that crime is down. But, as would be expected, the Josephine County sheriff said the statistics didn’t tell the whole story.

OK, just for the record, I have had a lot of friends in law enforcement - especially back in the 1980s and '90s when I was working with a lot of police departments in the San Francisco Bay Area.

One of the complaints very common among them back then, from those who were in Supervisor (Watch Commander) positions, was always having to justify salaries and manpower needs..

I remember being told that one of the difficulties of asking for more money every fiscal year was having to justify their requests. He said that the worse thing that happens to a department is having to report annual crime statistics. He said they only works in your favor when crime is up.

If crime is up, then any department can go to the city or county, or the voters, and ask for more money for equipment, more officers, and pay raises. They can ask for more of everything and anything, needed or not, and they'd get it.

If it is down, he said, departments down play the report because it doesn't help them justify asking for more of anything, needed or not. And yes, just as you suspect, their requests for more would most likely be turned down.

Besides crime statistics, there are the other stats that don't help departments.

As a friend once said: officers are now getting paid more and have more benefits than ever before - yet because of paper work and other menial duties, they respond to less calls and have less patrol time on the street than ever before.

And yes, statistics show that across the nation, police response time is down and more calls are being missed as ever before.

So if crime is down, and departments are responding to less calls, how do you justify asking for more and more without looking greedy?

The Josephine County Sheriff’s Office crime statistics show that while burglaries and auto thefts are up slightly, other types of thefts, criminal mischief, and fugitive arrests are all down.

The Josephine County Sheriff said the numbers do not include the number of calls that went over to Oregon State Police. Supposedly he said  troopers could have responded to those calls or could have rejected them.

If I were the OSP, I'd definitely take issue with that. The State Police up there has an excellent performance record. That department is as good or better than most.

Now that Josephine County deputies are only responding to person crimes, life-threatening incidents, or crimes in progress, victims can file reports online at the county’s website.

The sheriff said his two patrol deputies are now taking an average 30 to 40 calls for service a day. If that's so, 30 to 40 calls for service would mean that their statistics are way off.

Then again, maybe the Sheriff is exaggerating a bit.

Josephine County, Oregon, has a population of 82,930 living in an area 1,642 sq miles in size - just getting around is a challenge. 

At 30 calls a day, those two deputies are servicing 10,950 calls a year. That's an incredible number for a place with only 83,000 residents.

By their own crime statistics over the 4 year average, there was a combined average of 1,500 incidents of crime. That 1500 incidents divided by 365 days for one calendar year totals out to be 4.1 incidents a day

So could the sheriff be right that his two deputies are taking 30 calls for service a day. If so, what were those other 8,450 calls?

And honestly, if two deputies are working 10 hour shifts a day and does respond to 30 calls a day (15 calls each), then that means that each call takes 40 minutes from start to finish continuously - and that does not take into account travel time in a jurisdiction that is 1,642 sq miles big.

So yes, I really believe that the sheriff might be mistaken. Forgetting the simple math, just the crime statistics alone doesn't add up to as mean a crime ridden place as the Sheriff is making it out to be.

Relocate - Flee For Your Lives - What's that all about?

Well, not only did the Sheriff's Office narrow its scope to "life-threatening" situations, the Sheriff's Office up there even encourages people who felt unsafe "to relocate."

No kidding! Imagine that for a moment - your sheriff's department actually encourages you to sell out and move out if you feel unsafe.

As hard as that is to believe, the Josephine County Sheriff’s department informed their residents, in the original released statement:

“... the Sheriff's Office regretfully advises that, if you know you are in a potentially volatile situation (for example, you are a protected person in a restraining order that you believe the respondent may violate), you may want to consider relocating to an area with adequate law enforcement services”.

Makes me wonder if there is some sort of a war going on in the mean streets of Josephine County up there in Oregon, so mean that the law up there says either vote for higher taxes or run for your lives!

Their Sheriff's Office didn't say find a way to protect yourselves, such as exercising your 2nd Amendment Rights to arm yourself in case of "a potentially volatile situation (for example, you are a protected person in a restraining order that you believe the respondent may violate)".

No, instead they said, you might want to run away because the Government can't protect you.

Please understand that what the County Sheriff up there is advising the citizens there simply goes against all of the crime statistics being reported in the last 30 years. While crime there in that county is certainly down over the past 4 years, Nationally crime is the lowest in 30 years.

Places like Chicago and Detroit make the us look like we're living in a war zone, but take them away and we soon find that that is not the case.

But hey, I'm sure that that the Josephine County Sheriff already knows that fact.

Besides crime being down, there is also the proven fact that law enforcement responds to acts of violence only after the act has already taken place and the perpetrator is long gone.

Yes, nothing has changed since my days working with law enforcement agencies in the San Francisco Bay Area - many department are simply political machines who always try to legitimize their existence.

Facts are facts, and whether city and county law enforcement wants to admit it or not, even after spending Millions of Taxpayer Dollars on all sorts of new equipment, armored vehicles, simulators, and tactical gear, all designed to wage urban warfare, response time has only gotten worse over the years.

Compare today's response times with what it was 30 years ago when departments spent just a small fraction of what they do today, and one has to ask if we are getting our money's worth?

Two Rural County Policies - Contrast and Comparison

Comparing Josephine County Oregon with say Alameda County California would be like comparing apples and oranges simply because they are so different.

But let's compare apples and apples. In my county, Calaveras County with a population of 44,742 stretched over 1,037 sq miles, our County Sheriff has a policy of empowering our citizens to protect ourselves.

I have spoken with Calaveras County Sheriff Gary Kuntz a couple of times about his common sense approach to law enforcement.

He understands the size of our county, the demographics which make up of our population, and he recognizes how long it takes to respond to a situation because he understands the manpower that our county has available.

Subsequently, Calaveras County Sheriff Kuntz utilizes a common sense approach that does in fact incorporate a citizen's personal responsibility for their own security.

The last thing that our Sheriff down here would do, the very last thing, is to tell the citizens of this county to relocate in an attempt to try to scare us or make the situation look dire and life threatening.

The idea that a County Sheriff up in Oregon would do such a thing is unfathomable, purely political, disgusting!

We are not beholding to others to protect us, we own that - that is ours to provide for ourselves. It is gratifying to see Americans taking ownership of their own protection. It is the true spirit of America.

End - Part One

by Tom Correa

Battle With The Apache, 1872

Dear Friends,

In the 1890s, the U.S. government declared the American Frontier closed. Supposedly, the government saw it as tamed. Yes, believe it or not, as naive as it sounds, the "Wild West" of the 1890s was considered tamed.

To many folks in the West at the time, it seemed as though the politicians back East in Washington D.C. were jumping the gun a little. Their memories were not as short as those politicians who wanted to bury the turmoil of the Indian Wars.

Fact is there were still maps that were just put out only a few years before labeled the area West of the Mississippi as "The Great American Desert." And yes, only a few years earlier, the West was still considered home to wild animals and wilder tribes of Native Americans who had spend hundreds of years killing each other and generations killing whites.

With the end of the Civil War, America's Great Westward Migration went into full swing. Prospectors, ranchers, farmers, settlers of all types, began filling this so-called "wasteland," transforming it to meet their own needs and bringing with them the means to militarily subjugate the Indian tribes that threatened this advance. The end of the Civil War also brought a new type of military commander to the West - one experienced in the practicalities of war and was hardened to the demands of combat.

In the 1870s, General George Crook epitomized this new breed of Western General. His success in subduing the Indians of the Northwest prompted President Grant in 1871 to order him to the Arizona Territory to deal with the Apache raids on white settlements throughout the region.

While atrocities occurred on both sides, Apaches would swoop down on isolated farms and small settlements - massacring all they found. In retaliation, whites attacked Apache camps, massacring all there. Like the Apache, the whites that included innocent women and children. Yes, massacres on both sides were becoming common place.

In 1871, General Crook was ordered to end the Apache raids and bring peace to the region. His tactics were simple: He would relentlessly pursue the hostiles wherever they may flee and provoke battle or surrender. His columns of infantry and cavalry lead by friendly Apache scouts familiar with the land crisscrossed a region until contact with the enemy was made. General Crook began his campaign in December 1872. It ended in the spring of 1873 with the surrender of the hostile elements of the Apache and their removal to the Reservation.

Attack On An Apache Fortress

Under cover of the cold darkness of the early morning of December 28, 1872, one of Crook's columns approached an Apache stronghold established in a cave etched out of a sheer cliff bordering the Salt River.

Under General Crook was Captain John G. Bourke who led a unit engaged in the assault.  

In 1891, a full 19 years after the event, Captain Bourke wrote about his experience:

"We moved onward again for three or four hours until we reached a small grassy glade, where we discovered fifteen Pima ponies, which must have been driven up the mountain by Apache raiders that very night; the sweat was hardly crusted on their flanks, their hoofs were banged against the rocks, and their knees were full of the thorns of the cholla cactus, against which they had been driven in the dark.

There was no moon, but the glint of stars gave enough light to show that we were in a country filled with huge rocks and adapted most admirably for defense.

There in front, almost within touch of the hand, that line of blackness blacker than all the other blackness about us was the canyon of the Salt River.

We looked at it well, since it might be our grave in an hour, for we were now within rifle shot of our quarry.

Nantaje (an Apache scout) now asked that a dozen picked men be sent forward with him, to climb down the face of the precipice and get into place in front of the cave in order to open the attack; immediately behind them should come fifty more, who should make no delay in their advance; a strong detachment should hold the edge of the precipice to prevent any of the hostiles from getting above them and killing our people with their rifles.

The rest of our force could come down more at leisure, if the movement of the first two detachments secured the key of the field; if not, they could cover the retreat of the survivors up the face of the escarpment.

Lieutenant William J. Ross, of the 2ISt Infantry, was assigned to lead the first detachment, which contained the best shots from among the soldiers, packers, and scouts.

The second detachment came under my own orders.

Our pioneer party slipped down the face of the precipice without accident, following a trail from which an incautious step would have caused them to be dashed to pieces; after a couple of hundred yards this brought them face to face with the cave, and not two hundred feet from it.

In front of the cave was the party of raiders, just returned from their successful trip of killing and robbing in the settlements near Florence, on the Gila River.

They were dancing to keep themselves warm and to express their joy over their safe return.

Half a dozen or more of the squaws had arisen from their slumbers and were bending over a fire and hurriedly preparing refreshments for their valorous kinsmen.

The fitful gleam of the glowing flame gave a Macbethian tinge to the weird scene and brought into bold relief the grim outlines of the cliffs between whose steep walls, hundreds of feet below, growled the rushing current of the swift Salado.

The Indians, men and women, were in high good humor, and why should they not be?

Sheltered in the bosom of these grim precipices only the eagle, the hawk, the turkey buzzard, or the mountain sheep could venture to intrude upon them.

But hark! What is that noise? Can it be the breeze of morning which sounds 'Click, click'?

You will know in one second more, poor, deluded, red-skinned wretches, when the 'Bang! Boom!' of rifles and carbines, reverberating like the roar of cannon from peak to peak, shall lay six of your number dead in the dust.

The cold, gray dawn of that chill December morning was sending its first rays above the horizon and looking down upon one of the worst bands of Apaches in Arizona, caught like wolves in a trap.

They rejected with scorn our summons to surrender, and defiantly shrieked that not one of our party should escape from that canyon.

We heard their death song chanted, and then out of the cave and over the great pile of rock which protected the entrance like a parapet swarmed the warriors.

But we outnumbered them three to one, and poured in lead by the bucketful.

The bullets, striking the roof and mouth of the cave, glanced among the savages in the rear of the parapet and wounded some of the women and children, whose wails filled the air.

During the heaviest part of the firing a little boy, not more than four years old, absolutely naked, ran out at the side of the parapet and stood dumfounded between the two fires.

Nantaje, without a moment's pause, rushed forward, grasped the trembling infant by the arm, and escaped unhurt with him inside our lines.

A bullet, probably deflected from the rocks, had struck the boy on the top of the head and plowed round to the back of the neck, leaving a welt an eighth of an inch thick, but not injuring him seriously.

Our men suspended their firing to cheer Nantaje and welcome the new arrival: such is the inconsistency of human nature.

Again the Apaches were summoned to surrender, or, if they would not do that, to let such of their women and children as so desired pass out between the lines; and again they yelled their defiant refusal.

Their end had come.

The detachment left by Major Brown at the top of the precipice, to protect our retreat in case of necessity, had worked its way over to a high shelf of rock overlooking the enemy beneath, and began to tumble down great boulders which speedily crushed the greater number of the Apaches.

The Indians on the San Carlos reservation still mourn periodically for the seventy-six of their relatives who yielded up the ghost that morning. Every warrior died at his post.

The women and children had hidden themselves in the inner recesses of the cave, which was of no great depth, and were captured and taken to Camp McDowell.

A number of them had been struck by glancing bullets or fragments of failing rock.

As soon as our pack-trains could be brought up we mounted the captives on our horses and mules and started for the nearest military station, the one just named, over fifty miles away."

This letter above is from John G. Bourke's "General Crook In Indian Country", Century Magazine (1891)

Tom Correa

War On Christians - "So Help Me God!"

Dear Readers,

Have you ever wondered what the words wesay actually mean? I sometimes wonder if there are people out there who have no idea what they are really saying  - or why they are saying it.

As a kid, the most seriously things in life always came with us saying "Cross my heart!"

Later, in schools, we learned the Pledge of Allegiance. In class, every morning, we would take the 10 seconds to say "I pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America
and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all."

We all said, "I pledge ..."

In court, when asked, "do you solemnly swear, so help you God?" We respond yes, to attest to the seriousness and the truthfulness of what we are swearing to.

"So help me God" is the way we in the Western World say "I swear I will" in the strongest way that we know how.

Question: "Do you solemnly swear to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies both Foreign and Domestic?" 

Answer: "Sure!"
Answer: "I think so!"
Answer: "Probably, depends!"

While those answers are all perfectly fine for Liberals and Democrats who don't see the question as being "realistic" or "really meaning what it says," most Conservatives would not find it in them to simply say "sure, I think so, probably, depends" when asked the same question.

Conservatives would say, "I do, so help me God!"

Fact is "So help me God" is a phrase often used to give an oath, and most commonly optional as part of an oath of office.

It is also used in some jurisdictions as a form of oath for other forms of public duty, such as an appearance in court, service as a juror, etc.

The essence of the phrase is a request to divine agency to render assistance (help) by being a guarantor of the oath taker's own honesty and integrity in the matter under question, and by implication invoking divine displeasure if the oath taker fails in their duty in this regard.

It therefore implies greater care than usual in the act of the performance of one's duty, such as in testimony to the facts of the matter in a court of law

The use of the phrase implies a greater degree of seriousness and obligation than is usually assigned to common conversation. See the discussion on oaths for more details

It is a phrase used around the world at the end of oaths of office, in oaths of allegiance, and oaths be people around the world who are about to be members of government.

"So help me God" is a solemn affirmation of diligence to duty.

In Great Britain, the Oath of Allegiance set out in the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 ends with this phrase, and is required to be taken by various office-holders.

Here in the United States, the "No Religious Test Clause" requires that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

However, after saying that, there are Federal oaths which do include the phrase "So help me God," such as for justices and judges.

The phrase "So help me God" is prescribed in oaths as early as the Judiciary Act of 1789, for U.S. officers other than the President. That act makes the semantic distinction between an affirmation and an oath.

The oath, religious in essence, includes the phrase "so help me God" and "[I] swear", while the affirmation simply uses "[I] affirm".

Both serve the same purpose and are described as one solemnly swear, or affirm, that....

As for Presidential oath?

There is no law that requires Presidents to use a Bible or to add the words "So help me God" at the end of the oath.

But since George Washington, our nation's first president, added this phrase to his oath, all Presidents have used this phrase to show the seriousness of their taking on such duties as the presidency.

In our oath of citizenship, The United States Oath of Citizenship (officially referred to as the "Oath of Allegiance," 8 C.F.R. Part 337 (2008)), taken by all immigrants who wish to become United States citizens, includes the phrase "so help me God"; however 8 C.F.R. 337.1 provides that the phrase is optional.

In our military, the oaths of enlistment and officers both contain this phrase, however it is not required to be said if the speaker has a personal or moral objection, as is true of all oaths administered by the United States government.

Some of the states have specified that the words "so help me God" were used in oath of office, and also required of jurors, witnesses in court, notaries public, and state employees.

Where this is still the case, there is the possibility of a court challenge over eligibility, as the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S. 488 (1961), that such state-law requirements violate citizens' rights under the federal Constitution.

Some states still require "so help me God" as part of the oath to public office. Other states
allow exceptions or optional phrases. And of course, there is Wisconsin where the specific language of the oath has been repealed.

Air Force drops "So Help Me God" from oaths

By Todd Starnes

November 19, 2013
FoxNews.com

The Air Force Academy has admitted they removed the phrase “so help me God” from three oaths in the 2012 edition of their official cadet handbook, Fox News has learned.

The revelation came after more than two dozen members of Congress sent a letter to Academy Supt. Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson demanding that she explain why the phrase was removed.

The lawmakers contend the 2012 edition of the Contrails Cadet Handbook excludes the phrase ‘so help me God’ in the Cadet’s Oath of allegiance, the Oath of Office for Officers and the Oath of Enlistment.

Air Force Academy spokesman Maj. Brus Vidal told me the omission was a simple mistake.

“The Constitution does not require that this phrase be scrubbed from the oath,” read the letter drafted by Rep. Jim Bridenstein (R-Okla.) and signed by 28 lawmakers.

“The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the establishment of religion’ however, the inclusion of the phrase ‘so help me God’ in an oath of service does not rise to this level.”

Bridenstein said “editing the oath for all Academy students is extreme and unnecessary, and does a disservice to the countless individuals who wish to include the phrase as a solemn reminder that they are pledging their fidelity to God and country.”

Air Force Academy spokesman Maj. Brus Vidal told me the omission was a simple mistake.

“It was an editorial oversight,” he said. “We learned within the last few weeks there was a problem.”

Vidal said there was no reasoning behind the omission and there was no forethought.

“Whoever was doing the editing didn’t catch it,” he said.

He said next year’s edition of the Contrails Cadet Handbook will be revised and will include the phrase “so help me God.”

Last month, the Air Force Academy was embroiled in another controversy involving “so help me God” after they decided to make it an optional part of the Honor Oath. The revision was made following a complained from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation.

The lawmakers directed Johnson to provide information on why changes were made to the Honor Oath and why a poster bearing the words “so help me God” was removed from the Academy.

MRFF President Mikey Weinstein had filed a complaint about the poster. Approximately 68 minutes after he complained, Johnson ordered the art work removed. That decision did not set well with lawmakers.

“We ask that you restore the poster bearing the oath in full to its original location as an honorable reflection of the oath of service,” the lawmakers wrote.

After the Honor Oath was revised, Johnson released a statement affirming the right of Airmen to “freely practice and exercise their religious preference – or not.”

“Here at the Academy, we work to build a culture of dignity and respect,” she stated.

Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, said he’s received calls from concerned parents of cadets – lamenting the change in the oaths.

“This phrase is a deeply-rooted American tradition – begun by George Washington as the first president of the United States and now stated by many who take an oath of service to our country,” Crews said.

“The removal of this phrase is a disservice to the countless men and women who wish to include this phrase as a solemn reminder that they are pledging their fidelity to God and their country.”

And while Crews said he respects the right of cadets not to say the word ‘so help me God’, he pointed out the law requires that the words remain part of the oath.

If that’s the case – why were they removed and who gave the order?

Let’s hope these lawmakers can root out the anti-religious forces that have infiltrated the Air Force Academy. It’s high time someone put a stop to the religious cleansing of the Armed Forces.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America”.

Editor's Note:

One of the things that may be lost in this is the fact that when we swear an oath, we are in fact making a vow, a covenant with God.

And that's the point, it is not about any one "religion." It is about taking an oath that you hold so solemn that you vow to keep it.

A friend once told me that the phrase "So help me God" was sort of like a small prayer or a plea for more strength so that God would know to help him if he ever faltered.

Yes, I sort of liked that.


Tom Correa

Federal Government 2013 War On Christians - Part Five

Dear Readers,

In this part of the Federal Government's 2013 War On Christians, again we use Todd Starnes articles to chronicle the degradation of Christians in America's military just this last year.

Catholic priests in military face arrest for celebrating Mass

by Todd Starnes
October 05, 2013 / FoxNews.com

The U.S. military has furloughed as many as 50 Catholic chaplains due to the partial suspension of government services, banning them from celebrating weekend Mass. At least one chaplain was told that if he engaged in any ministry activity, he would be subjected to disciplinary action.

“In very practical terms it means Sunday Mass won’t be offered,” Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services told me. “If someone has a baptism scheduled, it won’t be celebrated.”

The Archdiocese for the Military Services tells me the military installations impacted are served by non-active-duty priests who were hired as government contractors. As a result of a shortage of active duty Catholic chaplains, the government hires contract priests.

A well-placed source told me that a furloughed Air Force chaplain was threatened after he offered to forgo pay.Broglio said some military bases have forbidden the contract priests from volunteering to celebrate Mass without pay.

“They were told they cannot function because those are contracted services and since there’s no funding they can’t do it – even if they volunteer,” he said.

John Schlageter, general counsel for the archdiocese, said any furloughed priests volunteering their services could face big trouble.

“During the shutdown, it is illegal for them to minister on base and they risk being arrested if they attempt to do so,” he said in a written statement.

A well-placed source told me that a furloughed Air Force chaplain was threatened after he offered to forgo pay. The chaplain was told he could not go on base or enter his chapel offices. He was also barred from engaging in any ministry activity.

The source told me the chaplain was told that if he violated those orders he and his supervisor would be subjected to disciplinary action – with the possibility of being fired.

Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, called those developments disturbing.

“Catholic military personnel should not have their religious liberties held hostage by this funding crisis,” Crews told me. “I find it alarming that these priests cannot even volunteer to provide services without threat of arrest.”

The archbishop said a priest at Joint Base Langley-Eustis was banned from officiating at the wedding of a couple he’d been counseling.

“The wedding could be on the base, but the priest can’t do the wedding,” Broglio told me.

A priest at the Naval Amphibious Base in Little Creek, Va., was told he could not celebrate Mass on base because of the government shutdown. So he discovered a way to circumvent the ban.

“He’s having Mass in a local park off base,” the archbishop said.

The archbishop said it doesn’t make any sense to forbid priests from voluntarily ministering to the troops.

“Most of us don’t look to see that we’re going to be paid before we do something,” he said. “They are not being allowed to volunteer even to meet the needs of the faithful.”

Bill Donohue, of the Catholic League, told me he’s not surprised by the decision to furlough Catholic priests.

“In American history there has been no administration more anti-Catholic than the Obama administration,” he said. “For them to deny Catholic men and women the opportunity of the sacraments and to deal with their prayerful vocations is really a stunning statement.”

Donohue chalked it up to meanness.

“This idea of punishing Catholics in the military - denying them their priests - is consistent with the animus this administration has demonstrated,” he said.

It’s not exactly clear who is the final arbiter in the furloughs – but I suspect it’s the same folks who kicked school children out of the White House and elderly veterans out of the World War II Memorial.

“It’s difficult to know who exactly is making these decisions,” the archbishop said. “I’m being told it keeps getting kicked up to a higher level.”

I called the Pentagon but no one returned my calls.

I called the Air Force public affairs office and they told me to reach out to the local bases.

Surely there must be some way to compromise, to let Catholics practice their faith.

I find it odd that the military was able to find enough cash to let their football teams play this weekend – but they can’t scrounge up enough cash for weekend church services.

“It’s a sad contrast when we can let a football game go on but we won’t let a priest go on base and celebrate Mass,” he said.

So in President Obama’s world – college football players are essential but Catholic priests are not.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America”.

Editor's Note:

As much as loved being a Marine and serving my country, I never thought I'd say that young people should think twice about enlisting.

With all that is going on with the Obama White House: their absolute disdain for our military, their careless attitude toward the health and safety of our men and women in uniform, their agenda of prohibiting our troops from exercising their Constitutional Rights to worship and practice their Christian beliefs - I would try to stop someone from serving under Obama.

And yes, let's not forget the Obama administration's traitorous treatment of Veterans after they return home from fighting for us - yes, these days I would try to stop young people from going into the military while Obama is in office.

As I see it, from every thing that I've read resourcing this, at no other time in our history has there been a systematic degrading of American Christians in our country - especially in our military where order and adherence to rules and regulations maker those affected less able to voice their grievances.

Yes, I would tell every young man or woman who wants to go into our military - not to go until President Obama and his anti-military administration are out of office..

And yes, it is one thing to want to serve your country in spite of who is president - but support and loyalty work in both direction.

Why serve under a president who does not understand the mission of our military nor respect and support the troops or their Constitutional and God Given Rights to practice their faith as Christians.

One of the keys to sound leadership is to treat your troops well and without bias.

Under President Obama, Muslims and Atheists are welcome and encouraged to serve and practice their faith.

Just as in Public Schools today throughout America which now teach the basics of Islam and Atheism, all while Christians are prosecuted for saying a prayer in class. It's just not right!

Since there exists, as I've shown in these series of article by Todd Starnes, an anti-Christian atmosphere in our military - maybe it's true that Christians are being told they need not apply.

And if so, than maybe it's time to see how well those who are left do?

If Christians just sit things out - at least until there is an administration who wants to protect and defend the Constitutional Rights of all Americans, including Christians - then maybe we can bring about change that is positive and enduring in the way of making sure Christians are no longer persecuted in our military services.

Tom Correa

Federal Government 2013 War On Christians - Part Four

Dear Readers,

While America's Christians go through a barrage of attacks every Christmas, and since Christians honestly out-number Leftist Atheists who are bent on taking away the Religious Freedoms of Christians, I don't understand why we have to go through this at all?

And no, it is not only during Christmas that Christians are being attacked - especially by our own military.

With the military being 85% Christians and only a mere 15% Non-Christians, yes we truly out-number those who are taking away our Constitutional Rights about 8 to 2.

While we who serve or have served in the military take an Oath to Protect and Defend the Constitution of the United States, doesn't anyone think that Christians should demand that those in charge Protect and Defend their Constitutional Rights as well - starting with the 1st Amendment and stop those who would refuse us Christians ours!

The 1st Amendment states: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; ...

So why is the Government prohibiting our military personnel the free exercise thereof by curtailing their speech such as putting up a small unobtrusive Nativity scene, their actions such as restricting them from even mentioning the word "Christmas," or their ability to practice their religious beliefs while on active duty?

What would happen if the millions of Christians in our military filed a class action lawsuit to have their rights observed?

And yes, their was a time when the military supported the spiritual beliefs of their troops.

They did just that for Christians by making sure they had chapels and churches, and yes Chaplains were always made available to the troops - they did so because it was good for the troops and second it was good for our military.

Where are those leaders who had the good sense to allow our troops the rights that they themselves fight and die for?

Does the military consider Christians a threat equal to Muslims who behead non-Muslims or attack the innocent? Yes, the United States Armed Forces these days certainly does!

Want proof? Here you go!

In October of last year, 2013, it was revealed that the U.S. Army considers Christians and those who belong to the Tea Party - a terrorist threat?

Does Army consider Christians, Tea Party, a terror threat?

by Todd Starnes

October 23, 2013
FoxNews.com

Soldiers attending a pre-deployment briefing at Fort Hood say they were told that evangelical Christians and members of the Tea Party were a threat to the nation and that any soldier donating to those groups would be subjected to punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

A soldier who attended the Oct. 17th briefing told me the counter-intelligence agent in charge of the meeting spent nearly a half hour discussing how evangelical Christians and groups like the American Family Association were “tearing the country apart.”

Michael Berry, an attorney with the Liberty Institute, is advising the soldier and has launched an investigation into the incident.

“On the very base that was the site of mass murder carried out by a radicalized Muslim soldier, it is astonishing that it is evangelical groups that are being identified as a ‘threat.’” - Tony Perkins, Family Research Council president.

“The American public should be outraged that the U.S. Army is teaching our troops that evangelical Christians and Tea Party members are enemies of America, and that they can be punished for supporting or participating in those groups,” said Berry, a former Marine Corps JAG officer.

“These statements about evangelicals being domestic enemies are a serious charge.”

The soldier told me he fears reprisals and asked not to be identified.

He said there was a blanket statement that donating to any groups that were considered a threat to the military and government was punishable under military regulations.

“My first concern was if I was going to be in trouble going to church,” the evangelical Christian soldier told me.

“Can I tithe? Can I donate to Christian charities? What if I donate to a politician who is a part of the Tea Party movement?”

Another soldier who attended the briefing alerted the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty. That individual’s recollections of the briefing matched the soldier who reached out to me.

“I was very shocked and couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” the soldier said. “I felt like my religious liberties, that I risk my life and sacrifice time away from family to fight for, were being taken away.”

And while a large portion of the briefing dealt with the threat evangelicals and the Tea Party pose to the nation, barely a word was said about Islamic extremism, the soldier said.

“Our community is still healing from the act of terrorism brought on by Nidal Hasan – who really is a terrorist,” the soldier said. “This is a slap in the face. “The military is supposed to defend freedom and to classify the vast majority of the military that claim to be Christian as terrorists is sick.”

Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, tells me the Pentagon is pushing anti-Christian propaganda.

“On the very base that was the site of mass murder carried out by a radicalized Muslim soldier, it is astonishing that it is evangelical groups that are being identified as a ‘threat,’” he said.

“Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel must immediately intervene to stop this march against the rights and freedom of our soldiers.”

The soldier said they were also told that the pro-life movement is another example of “radicalization.”

“They said that evangelical Christians protesting abortions are the mobilization stage and that leads to the bombing of abortion clinics,” he said, recalling the discussion.

An Army spokesman at the Pentagon tells me they do not maintain or publish a list of organizations considered extremist.

“None of these slides [shown at the briefing] were produced by the Army, but by soldiers who included information found during an Internet search,” the spokesman said.

He said commanders and other leaders were cautioned that they should not use “lists of extremists, hate groups, radical factions or the like compiled by any outside non-governmental groups or organizations for briefings, command presentations, or as a short cut to determining if a group or activity is considered to be extremist.”

Meanwhile, the public affairs office at Fort Hood is denying the soldiers' allegations
“The allegations you are asking about were brought to the attention of the Fort Hood leadership immediately and a (sic) inquiry is occurring,” read a statement from Tom Rheinlander, the public affairs director at Fort Hood.

“At this time, initial information gathered about the training and what you claim occurred is not substantiated by unit leadership and soldiers present at this training venue.”

I sent the public affairs officer additional questions about the specific content of the briefing but he declined to respond.

But this is not the first time an Army briefing has labeled evangelicals as extremists. Last April an Army Reserve briefing classified Evangelical Christianity and Catholicism as “religious extremism.”

In a letter to Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.), Secretary of the Army John McHugh said the briefing in April was an isolated incident and the material used was not sanctioned by the Army.

McHugh said it was a “misguided attempt to explain that extremism is not limited to a single religion.”

Two weeks ago, several dozen active duty troops at Camp Shelby in Mississippi, were told the American Family Association, a well-respected Christian ministry, should be classified as a domestic hate group because it advocates for traditional family values.

Again, the military called it an isolated incident with a trainer using material that was not sanctioned by the military.

That explanation is wearing thin with American Christians.

“How much longer can the Army claim no knowledge or responsibility for these things?” Berry asked.

“These repeated incidents show either that this training was directed from Army leadership at the Pentagon, or else the Army has a real discipline and leadership problem on its hands because a bunch of rogue soldiers are teaching this nonsense.”

The most recent allegations at Fort Hood have drawn sharp rebuke from religious liberty groups around the nation.

“Why is the Army engaged in these anti-Christian training propaganda briefings?” asked Perkins, himself a veteran of the Marine Corps.

“The only explanation is that this is a deliberate effort of the Obama administration to intimidate and separate soldiers from Christian groups that they support and that support them.”

Ron Crews, executive director of the Chaplain Alliance, called the military’s behavior dishonorable.

“Far from mere ‘isolated incidents,’ as the Army has dismissed previous occurrences, this latest incident demonstrates a pattern and practice of Army briefings identifying mainstream religions, such as Evangelical Christianity, Judaism, and Catholicism, as examples of ‘religious extremism’ similar to Al Qaeda, Hamas, and the Ku Klux Klan,” he told me.

Perkins said it’s time for the Pentagon to “ensure that instructors carry out their role to train our troops to defend our freedom, and not push anti-Christian propaganda.”

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America”.

Editor's Note:

That seems to be the point, that along with the anti-Christian propaganda in the military right now, there is in fact is an anti-Christian agenda coming from the Obama administration and the Liberal left.

Tom Correa

PS:

Since some of you have written to ask where this cross comes from? It is a silver concho that I use on one of my horse bridles.

If you're looking for the cross conchos for your tack, or simply for your belts, or a vest, or a jacket, they can be found at tack locations where conchos are sold - or here Cross Conchos 

And no, this sort of Cowboy Bling is not very expensive.

Tom

Federal Government 2013 War On Christians - Part Three

Dear Readers,

Again more evidence of the Feds war on Christians in our military.

The small display above is all it takes to set off alarms and offend Liberals and the Democrat Party's Political Commissars who control the politics within the Department of Defense - plastic figures and wooden pallets.

Does it look threatening to you? Plastic figures and a couple of wood pallets to make it appear like a stable.

Believe it or not, this is extremely threatening to Liberals and those in the United States Air Force who don't have the cojones to fight for the Constitutional Rights of their troops!

U.S. Air Force removes Nativity scene

By Todd Starnes

December 09, 2013
FoxNews.com

Military Religious Freedom Foundation The Baby Jesus has been kicked off Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, according to an organization who relishes any opportunity to eradicate Christianity from the U.S. military.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation praised officials at Shaw Air Force Base for removing a Nativity scene located near Memorial Lake on Friday. The traditional Nativity included plastic statues of Mary, Joseph, the Baby Jesus and an assortment of animals.

Apparently, an undisclosed number of Airmen were so emotionally troubled by the sight of a manger scene that they immediately notified the MRFF.

I can only imagine the psychological damage they must have suffered as a result of glancing at the plastic statues.I can only imagine the psychological damage they must have suffered as a result of glancing at the plastic statues. I hope no one needed hospitalization, God forbid.

The MRFF’s Paul Loebe wrote in a statement that since the display was not erected near a chapel, it was illegal.

“It was very sectarian in nature and a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution as well as a blatant violation of Air Force Instruction 1-1, Section 2.11,” he said.

So the Newborn King is a violation of Air Force regulations? Who knew?

Loebe swiftly alerted MRFF President Mikey Weinstein who then called his BFF’s at the Pentagon. That led to an immediate investigation and more than two hours later, the Nativity had been removed.

“To the Air Force’s credit, it agreed with MRFF’s arguments to remove the Nativity scene swiftly and apparently found this scene to be as much a violation of all the pertinent regulations and the United States Constitution as MRFF did,” he stated.

He praised the Air Force for “acting so swiftly to reverse this egregious violation.”

So why did the Air Force unceremoniously boot the Son of God and why are they so terrified of Mikey Weinstein?

The public affairs office at Shaw AFB did not return three telephone calls and an email seeking comment. They must have been preoccupied hauling away the donkey and the sheep.

Hiram Sasser, the director of litigation for Liberty Institute, told me the military’s actions were unconstitutional.

“This was private speech,” he said. “The military can say no displays on a base but it cannot allow a display and then ban it simply because of its religious viewpoint.”

Sasser said the Supreme Court has ruled in the past that viewpoint discrimination even in a non-public forum such as a military base in unconstitutional.

“It appears that Mikey Weinstein has a special hotline to call his friends in leadership at the Pentagon to alert them to engage in unnecessary and, in this case, unlawful censorship of private religious speech,” he said.

Fox News commentator Sarah Palin, the author of the new book, “Good Tidings and Great Joy,” said what happened at Shaw Air Force base is not surprising.

“We see stories like this every day and yet leftwing pundits still claim that the so-called ‘War on Christmas’ is a figment of the imagination,” Palin told me. “The War on Christmas is just the top of the spear in a larger battle to marginalize expressions of faith and make true religious freedom a thing of the past.”

Palin’s book is a call to arms for Americans to “stand strong on America’s faith-filled foundation.”

“Never let these scrooges strip away the true meaning of Christmas,” she told me.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation bragged that it only took the Air Force two hours and 15 minutes to remove Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Sasser doubted the military would respond with such speed to correct what he called “unconstitutional religious viewpoint discrimination.”

He said he was surprised the Pentagon responded so swiftly to Weinstein’s demands - “as if he were under attack in a foreign country in need of rescue from a deadly mob.”

“Apparently if you are ever in trouble and need a quick response from the Pentagon, tell them a plastic Baby Jesus is at the gates.”

Maybe that’s what they should’ve done in Benghazi.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America”.


Tom Correa

Federal Government 2013 War On Christians - Part Two

Dear Readers,

As I stated in part one, the Federal Government is waging a war on Christians in our military.

There is one question that many in power are not answering and many Americans would like an answer:

If the Federal Government makes every branch of the United States military unwelcome to Christians, who will be left to defend America?  Atheist refuse to serve, and Muslims kill those they serve with.

So if Christians need not apply, what will our military become?

The news story below by Todd Starnes gives more evidence of the fact that the United States Government, the Feds, are waging a war on the religious freedoms of Christians in our military.

U.S. Army: Don’t say Christmas

by Todd Starnes

December 24, 2013 / FoxNews.com

Don’t say Christmas.

That’s the message that was conveyed to a group of soldiers at Camp Shelby by an equal opportunity officer from the Defense Equal Opportunity Management Institute, according to a soldier who attended a recent briefing.

“It’s unbelievable that the Army would ban ‘Christmas’ like it’s a bad word,” said Michael Berry, an attorney with the Liberty Institute, a legal firm representing the unidentified soldier.

Two weeks ago, a routine meeting was held at the Mississippi base with various leaders of the 158th Infantry Brigade. During the meeting, they discussed an upcoming Christmas football tournament. The equal opportunity officer immediately objected to the usage of the word “Christmas.”

“Our equal opportunity representative stopped the briefing and told us that we can’t say Christmas,” the soldier told me. “Almost the entire room blew up. Everybody was frustrated. The equal opportunity rep told our commander that not everyone celebrates Christmas and we couldn’t say Christmas celebration. It had to be holiday celebration.”

The soldier said there was a brief, but heated discussion about political correctness.

At one point, the equal opportunity representative tried to deflect the criticism by pointing out it was the Army’s rules – not hers.

“She said an individual can say Christmas, but as an organization in the Army you can’t say Christmas,” the soldier told me.

So what does the Army have to say about the DEOMI officer’s edict?

“There is no policy at the 158th Infantry Brigade, First Army Division East or First Army that forbids using the word ‘Christmas’,” Public Affairs Chief Amanda Glenn told me.

She confirmed that there was a discussion in the meeting about the football tournament.

She said it was meant to be a team building event and it had no tie to a specific religious event or holiday celebration.

“The Equal Opportunity advisor simply stated that it would be more appropriate to call it a holiday football event,” she said.

But Attorney Berry tells me that it was made very clear to the soldiers in the room that the name change was not merely a suggestion.

“She stated that the word Christmas had to be replaced with the word holiday,” Berry said.

The soldier who contacted me said it was just another instance of the military trying to curtail public expressions of the Christian faith.

“Between the Air Force and the Army – it’s like they don’t like Christian values, they don’t like the word Christ or Christmas,” the soldier said. “They don’t like you talking about it.”

Berry said it’s a shame that the Army has implemented word police.

“Are they going to have the ‘Merry Christmas’ police going around issuing citations to an soldier who slips and says the word?” he wondered. “They’re treating Christmas like it’s pornography. As a matter of fact, the Army actually treats pornography better than it does Christmas.”

It’s not the first time Equal Opportunity officers have caused trouble at Camp Shelby.

Earlier this year, I reported exclusively about a briefing at Camp Shelby that labeled the American Family Association as a domestic hate group.

After my story was published, the Secretary of the Army ordered military leaders to halt all briefings on extremist organizations that labeled Evangelical Christian ministries as domestic hate groups.

Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. Sign up for his American Dispatch newsletter, be sure to join his Facebook page, and follow him on Twitter. His latest book is "God Less America”.

Editor's Note:

Imagine if this were a group of blacks or Muslim Soldiers whose freedoms were being curtailed? It would be called "Racism" and "Religious Intolerance" - yet it is OK to do this to Christian Soldiers?

What? You say that there is nothing that you can do? How about passing this on and writing to your Congressman or woman and telling him or her that you want answers!

Tom Correa

Like me, more Americans are increasingly turning to God



A woman kneels in prayer at the
Basilica of the National Shrine



Dear Friends,



A story by Jacqueline Klimas in The Washington Times, published on Christmas Eve, December 24th, 2013, had me thinking.

Ms Klimas wrote that a  higher percentage of Americans now consider religion a very important piece of their lives - and cites a Gallup poll released on Christmas Eve.

She goes on to say, "Still, despite the increasing reliance on the power of personal prayer, only four in 10 Americans self-reported going to a religious service in the past week."

 

She says that the number of Americans who report going to church, synagogue or mosque in the past week has hovered around 40 percent since the 1960s, with a high of 44 percent in the early 2000s and a low of 37 percent around 2010.

That’s down dramatically from attendance in the mid-1950s when about half of Americans said they had attended a religious service in the past seven days. The number showed little change from last year.

The polls she cites says, "Studies in the past have suggested that Americans may over report their religious service attendance, meaning it percentage may actually be lower."

All this, yet the poll also states that the majority of Americans, however, say religion is an important part of their lives.

About 56 percent say it is “very important,” while 22 percent say it is “fairly important” and another 22 percent say it is “not very important.”

That number is said to have remained somewhat consistent, fluctuating between the mid-50’s and low-60’s for more than 20 years and is down only slightly from the 58 percent who said religion played an important role in their lives last year.

So what can one take from this?

For me, this all means that attending services are down yet people are still religious - and in fact a majority of 78% of the people polled claim that religion is "important."

To me, "very important" versus "fairly important" is sort of a fine line depending on how someone feels or what's going on in their life.

For example, I haven't been to church services for years. But after saying that, anyone who really knows me will tell you that my relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit is one that I take very personal.

I love churches, especially old churches where you can walk into and feel a presence - a place that makes me feel a sort of reference for God and the blessing that I am thankful for. Yes, not only those Blessings that I have received, but for those which will also come. 

After saying that about churches, some would wonder why I wouldn't be a regular to Sunday services?

My reason why I don't regularly attend church services is the same reason that I believe church attendance is down - yet so many people say that God is important to them.

I believe that we have found God, Jesus Christ, in more ways than just on Sunday mornings.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about, in the winter I feed my horses their second feeding of the day late at night.  I do this for two reasons; first it allows me to give them something to chew on that will help keep them warm through a cold night; and second it gives me a chance to pray. Yes, pray.

Some of the closes times that I felt to God was when I was camping or fishing. Since moving here to Glencoe, I have had the same feeling right here at home.

Late at night around here is sort of special because there are no lights of the city to mask the millions of stars - stars that seem so close that it sometimes feels as if I could touch the heavens.

And yes, there is God.

On a clear night like tonight, among the millions of stars are my memories of my grandparents, my dad, and others who have passed - those who I miss.

Among those twinkling lights are thoughts of my mom's happiness, my wife's happiness, how life is treating my family and friends.

I'll think about the times when I was a boy, the times when I was in the service far from home, the times not too long ago when life was not always easy.

Sometimes at night, I think about the things that I've done wrong and my hopes that I've been forgiven.

I sometimes wish that somehow I hadn't done this or that, or that some things could have been different. And yes, sometimes I wonder if what happens in life can ever be averted - but then again I know real well that there is no rewind in life.

I'll remember lessons learned, and I'll feel for those having it tough these days. Inevitably, I will ask God for help to understand what he wants of me and if there is any way to help those who I know need help.

I don't pretend to be a "good" Christian. After all, I refuse to turn the other cheek to so many things. And as for forgiving my enemies, I leave forgiving them to God himself because I won't.

And no, I don't pretend to have lead a great and noble life. I'm not a hypocrite when it comes to admitting that I have certainly screwed up and done wrong in life.

But I do believe that through Christ, I've found peace within myself to forgive those who have wronged me while at the same time finding the ability to ask for forgiveness from others.
And yes, God knows how hard that has been.

Yes, in the night air out at the barn, there is my church under the stars. There is where I feel close to God.

Late at night, my stained class windows are the stars just outside of my small barn that's really just a stable. And yes, I'm not ashamed to say that there I ask God for guidance and forgiveness, for help, and strength.

Every once in a while I'll remember a passage from the Bible. Then after returning to the house, with my wife in bed, I'll open our Bible and look up what I was thinking about.

A friend sent this to me. It has helped me put things into prospective:

Micah 6:6 - 8

"With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow before God most high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?

Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with myriad streams of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my crime,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

You have been told, O mortal, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do justice and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God"

Yes, church services might be down, but God's small simple message is being heard:



Yes, I am a Christian. A Catholic. A true believer. And yes, with all that is taking place in the world and specifically our country these days, I certainly understand why many Americans are turning to Christ these days.

Like many others, I thank God every day for the blessings he has given me, the blessings that will come, the strength to deal with life's ups and owns, and the ability to know that with Christ everything is possible.

Tom Correa