[Citing federal regulations, the Missouri National Guard has refused to show up for an hour-long meet-and-greet with kids at a small Baptist church ]
The military continues its recent trend of making bad decisions based on false Constitutional premises.
A small country church recently centered their Vacation Bible
School around our everyday heroes. They honored the Fire Department,
they honored paramedics and the police… they also wanted to honor their
local National Guard.But the National Guard was a no-show… in fact, they were the ONLY no show.
Their reasons are pretty sad too…
Bible Baptist
Church in Carthage, Missouri is a small country church bursting with
American pride. Old Glory is posted in the sanctuary. And every morning
at summer youth camp, the teenagers pledge allegiance and sing the
national anthem.
Patriotic holidays are big doings at Bible
Baptist. On Memorial Day, the church ladies put out quite a spread –
fried chicken, potato salad. Veterans would wear their uniforms and the
preacher would salute them during the morning worship service.
“We are a very patriotic church,” Pastor Kent Hogan told me. “We love America. We love this country.”
So it was not that big of a surprise when the
church decided to honor the military during their annual Vacation Bible
School. The theme was “God’s Rescue Squad.” And each day of the week,
the church invited local “rescue squads” to visit with the boys and
girls.
The paramedics came on Monday and on Tuesday,
the fire department showed up. The boys and girls were taught how to
stop, drop and roll. On Wednesday, the Jasper County Sheriff’s Dept.
brought their K-9 unit..
But our story picks up with what happened on
Thursday. That was the day when the church was supposed to honor the
National Guard. They had invited troops from the nearby armory to drop
by with one of their Humvees.
“We were going to thank them for protecting
our religious liberty,” said Pastor Hogan. “It was more of a promotion
for the military – to show the kids what the military does.”
But the National Guard did not visit Bible
Baptist Church on Thursday night, and the reason why has caused great
anger and frustration among church members.
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