ARE THERE BOOTS ON THE GROUND IN YOUR STATE?

I have always been supportive of law enforcement wherever I've lived. It goes without saying, I am supportive of our military as well. Growing up, I was an Army brat for awhile. For so many years, with a few exceptions, they each had their own place in our society. In very recent times, it seems the lines are blurred. And that can be scary. 

The Cliven Bundy so-called "civil disobedience" standoff in Nevada this past April, and now the Ferguson, Missouri protests and riots, have brought the assault rifles out in great numbers. Scenes from both incidents caused flashbacks in my memories. The armed protesters in Nevada dragged up images of the Ruby Ridge standoff in Idaho in 1992, and the David Koresh Branch Davidian siege in Waco, Texas in 1993. In all of these cases, the civilian combatants were heavily armed.

The riots of the past few days in Ferguson, Missouri have dredged up different memories -- the first images I remembered were of the 1970 Ohio Kent State University shooting of unarmed students who were protesting against the U.S. Cambodia Campaign announced by President Nixon. The Ohio National Guard was called out for that incident. Farther back in my memory were the 1965 Watts "civil rights" riots and again in 1992, the Rodney King Watts riots in Los Angeles. These riots all started as protests by unarmed citizens. 

I certainly agree that our law enforcement must be as well-armed as the criminals they confront. But, honestly, some of the scenes from SWAT team drug busts, where 20 or 30 officers in riot gear descend upon a residence don't make sense to me. Even a hostage situation by a single individual now presents a reason for local police departments to call out the same, heavily armed forces.

I have been appalled at the photos on television and the Internet of what our law enforcement agencies across the country now have at their command, thanks to the government's deep cuts in military spending. As the wars the U.S. has been involved in wind down, and our troops come home, there has been a surplus of arms and equipment. The Pentagon has been able to add dollars to its budget by selling these to municipalities across the country.

Is it any wonder that the sale of assault weapons to individuals has gone up dramatically in this country? Can you imagine being faced with this in the United States? Maybe at the Boston bomb scene, but at an unarmed peaceful protest?

N.C. State Police - 2014

Or this?

Ferguson, Missouri - August 2014

Tiananmen Square - 1989

Pima County, AZ - 2014

Russian Troops in Crimea

Is it any wonder that the conspiracy theorists are going wild and stating that the government will seize all of your guns, and take control of your personal life? Many of them see the military arming of our police forces as a prelude to losing all of their freedoms. Thus, many para-military groups are increasingly being heavily armed as their "defense" against this happening. History is filled with police states and their treatment of civilians.

Nazis Arresting Jews - Warsaw 1943

Peaceful Student Protest - Beijing, China1989

"Hands Up, Don't Shoot" - Ferguson, Missouri - August 2014

There has got to be a better way for law enforcement's handling of volatile situations than calling out what appears to the average citizen as a military group - or army, armed with military tanks and weapons! Training police to have a "warrior mentality" in use of these arms only adds to the fear factor of ordinary citizens. We can look at and learn from the mistakes made by governments in the past and present, that often end with civil war or even worse. It couldn't happen here -- or could it?

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The following brief story was sent to me by an acquaintance who is writing about her husband's experience as a child in Nazi Germany. I have changed his name, and the name of the small village he lived in, as he is truly reluctant to talk about those times.

"Konrad was 13 when World War II ended in May, 1945. Had the war not ended, he would have been sent to the front after his birthday in July.

His family were terrified of Hitler and all that was occurring in Germany. The SS came to his home in the middle of the night and took his father, who was a bookkeeper for a leather factory. He refused to carry a gun so they put him in care of the horses. He was allergic to horses and developed hives almost immediately. The ones in command thought he had some horrible disease and were afraid of him, so they sent him home. He was fortunate that they didn't kill him.

Many of the people in small villages such as Linden where Konrad lived did not know of all the camps and what was taking place there. They never owned a car or a telephone and were pretty isolated in their small village.

The children were required to be in Hitler's Youth and wore uniforms and hob-nailed boots for parades. They were required to memorize many songs declaring Germany the 'Wonderful' and  praising Hitler as the 'Ruler of the World'.

When he was 10 the German army sent trucks throughout rural Germany picking up undernourished children and took them to farms to 'fatten' and strengthen them, as they would be needed at the front in the future. He was there 6 months and gained approximately 20 pounds. He felt guilty because there was so much food on the farm and he knew his family didn't have enough in their village.

Konrad has many stories to tell, but only to a small group of family members. We have been so blessed not to have had to go through a war on our soil."

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Let us pray for not only peaceful resolutions to the world's crises, but also to the troubling problems being witnessed in the United States of America.

Peace and Love,

Marilyn