Freedom Under Attack – Part 4
| By: Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin (retired); ©2012 |
| Given events happening in the Middle East, is America especially vulnerable to attack? |
Introduction
As we approach the American Presidential election, our next president will not only have to deal with an economic crisis, but also with the rise of militant Islam in 22 countries in the Middle East, and Islamic terrorists infiltrating our southern border here in America.
Benjamin Netanyahu: If you look at what has happened politically, not economically, to the world, but what has happened politically to the world, you see a clear trajectory of the rise of militant Islam.
William Boykin: Those young Muslims out there today that may be very peaceful, that want nothing to do with jihad are encouraged to come into the Brotherhood, to come into Hezbollah, Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, or any of these other terrorist organizations because their theology is being played out right now.
Netanyahu: You see it not only taking over countries, which it has, but also extending its sway over many people. But their goals are unlimited. Whatever their successes so far, they don’t intend to stop.
My guest today is retired three-star general William G. Boykin, former commander of Delta Force, who later became commanding general of all US Army Special Forces around the world. He also served at the CIA in clandestine missions, and for four years he served as Undersecretary of Defense.
John Ankerberg: Is this going to have risks for our safety of Americans here in this country?
Boykin: There’s no question about it. The number one priority for the President of the United States is to defend the nation. You know, even our southern borders are being infiltrated right now. And you can say that’s an invasion of America. We’re finding prayer rugs, we’re finding terrorist training manuals. We’re finding all kinds of paraphernalia that relates directly back to terrorist groups. So they’re coming across our borders and they’re setting up cells in America.
Join us for this special edition of the John Ankerberg Show.
Ankerberg: Welcome to our program. Two weeks ago, folks, I had the privilege of hearing Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin speak at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. General Boykin is one of America’s elite warriors. He was chosen in 1978 to make up the first unit in America’s ultra-secret and deadly Delta Force. He then became the commander of that unit, and then later still commander of all US Army Special Forces. He’s also served a tour at the Central Intelligence Agency and retired in June 2007 after serving his last four years in uniform as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence.
And, General, since you have left the military, you have now joined with Tony Perkins at the Family Research Center in Washington. And a little while ago a shooter came through the doors of your organization and shot one of your people. And you were in the building. Tell me what happened.
Boykin: The 15th of August, a Virginia man named Floyd Lee Corkins, 28 years old, came into the lobby of the Family Research Council, set his backpack down, reached in his backpack and pulled out a pistol and intended to kill the building manager who happened to be sitting at the security desk that day. And he pulled out a 9-millimeter and fired a shot and missed our security guard. And our security guard then charged him and wrestled him to the ground, but was shot in the process. He shot our security guard through the arm. He wrestled him to the ground, took the pistol away from him and started to shoot him, and said God told him not to shoot this man. So he held him down, and several of us got into the lobby right after it happened and then were able to get the police there.
Floyd Lee Corkins had 15 Chic-fil-A sandwiches in his bag. The scenario, John, was clearly that he was going to go through our building, shoot and kill as many people as possible, and put a Chic-fil-A sandwich next to their body as, you know, a way of sending a signal as to what motivated him. He was a volunteer for a local gay and lesbian organization. He had been with them for about six months. He was obviously angry about the whole Chic-fil-A flap. But he was also, I think, very much aware of the fact that the Southern Poverty Law Center in Alabama had labeled us at the Family Research Council as a hate group, putting us in the same category as skinheads and the Ku Klux Klan and some really evil organizations in America. They labeled us the same thing because of our opposition to same-sex marriage. We’re in a tremendous culture war right now.
Ankerberg: Yeah. Tell us how that was covered by the news.
Boykin: FOX News covered it for several days. Tony Perkins was on a number of programs; I was on some programs. But the rest of the mainstream media, after the day of the shooting, it was nothing. It was not covered by the media. I think the clear implication is that the media did not want to have to recognize that an organization like the Family Research Council, a Christian organization that stands on biblical truths, was attacked, at least at some measure, because we were labeled a hate group by what I think are some very nefarious people, called the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Ankerberg: All of your life as a soldier, in Delta Force and a commander, and all the way up the line, you have fought to defend America, and you have fought to defend our wonderful freedoms here. And now you’ve joined with the Family Research Council to defend our religious liberties. What are some of our religious liberties that are at stake right now?
Boykin: John, about three or four weeks ago the Family Research Council and Liberty Institute from Liberty University released a study about religious persecution in America. We documented 600 cases of religious persecution, all against Christians in America, over the last decade. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. And, for example, a young grammar school student sitting in the cafeteria by himself, praying over his lunch, being ushered out of the cafeteria because he couldn’t pray. Teenagers from a high school here in Tennessee that were on the steps of the Supreme Court and were told they could not pray on the steps of the Supreme Court. Those kinds of things. There is a huge problem with religious persecution, religious liberty. And in our military today, the very institution that defends our first amendment rights, there is a huge, a huge amount of religious persecution right now.
Ankerberg: Give me an example.
Boykin: Well, right now, because of the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which allows homosexuals to serve very openly, now chaplains are being pressured to conduct same-sex marriages. Those chaplains that stand on biblical principles and say no, there is a subtle discrimination against them. And I’ve talked to them. There is a subtle discrimination. There’s a passive sort of hostility towards them. And you see now today that the Air Force has sent out a message saying to commanders all over the Air Force that they may not proselytize. They may not share their faith. They may not use their position to share the Christian faith. Well, you know, this nation was built on Judeo-Christian principles. This nation was built on the First Amendment. And it doesn’t matter; you don’t give up your First Amendment rights when you go into the military, particularly as it relates to religion.
Ankerberg: Talk about the Black-Robed Regiment.
Boykin: In 1773 the British began to identify pastors in the 13 colonies. They wore black robes because that was the dress of the pastors in the day. Those people, during the first Great Awakening which was 1730-1740, it was the pastors in the pulpits all up and down the 13 colonies that really got this passion for freedom, for true liberty, for separating from the Crown of England. And they began to influence very, you know, important men like Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Patrick Henry and others. So the British coined the term Black-Robed Regiment because they were influencing these men. And they eventually brought about the Revolutionary War, because they wanted real freedom. And that was a result of the first Great Awakening, which, by the way, was not evangelical. It was inside the church as people began to really come to know Christ in a more intimate way. That then just burst into a huge influence on the Founding Fathers.
Ankerberg: Yeah, I heard you talk at a university and you were talking about the fact of how our Constitution meant one thing up until the time of Hugo Black. What did he do?
Boykin: Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black, 1947, made a ruling, actually two rulings, one of which was in New Jersey, which turned the whole concept of the separation of church and state upside down. The idea actually came, the idea of the separation of church and state, actually came from England. It came from the people that came over and founded America, because they rejected the authority of the kings in spiritual matters, so that’s where separation of church and state. So when that idea took roots in American history, it was to protect the church from the king or the government. And then Hugo Black turned it upside down in 1947 by making a ruling that said it was to protect the government from the church. And, by the way, Hugo Black was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Ankerberg: Yeah. We’re going to take a break here. And when we come back I want to talk about some of the freedoms that we are losing, and some of the things that are happening even inside of our Christian churches, okay. You’re going to find this very interesting, folks, and I hope you’ll stick with us. We’ll be right back.
BREAK
Ankerberg: Alright, we’re back. We’re talking with General Boykin, and we’re talking about some of the religious freedoms that are at stake. And he’s at the Family Research Council with Tony Perkins, and they’ve been investigating some of the things that are happening right here in America that are attacking our religious freedoms. One of the interesting things that’s happening, even inside the church, is this thing called “Chrislam.” Explain what that is.
Boykin: Well, Chrislam is a theory that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. So it’s a combination of Christianity and Islam. It is practiced by a number of churches in America. There is a day every summer, I think it’s around the third week of June, where they bring Muslim congregations and Christian congregations together, normally in Christian churches. They read from the Qur’an; they read from the Bible; and they proclaim that we all worship the same God. Now, John, you and I as Christians know that that is not true. The Jesus of the Qur’an is not the Jesus of the Bible. In fact, the Jesus of the Qur’an was nothing but a prophet. The Jesus of the Qur’an will come back, but he will come back subordinate to the Islamic messiah. On the other hand, you know, the Jesus that we worship died at Calvary and paid a price that we might have the promise of eternal life if we would receive Him as our personal Savior. So this is a compromise of the gospel. It is confusing to Christians and it encourages the jihadists, I mean, really the radicals, it encourages them as they see Christians beginning to compromise on their own faith.
Ankerberg: What is the problem that develops when churches start to give here, give there and go with the society, go with the culture, and they don’t stand for biblical principles? For example, on abortion and same-sex marriage, at the Family Research Council you’ve taken a strong stand and we’ve gotten this passed in many of the states. Where is the fight right now in terms of the case, of holding up the case for traditional marriage?
Boykin: Well, there are some organizations that are fighting a good fight with us, like the National Organization for Marriage. They’re fighting a good fight. But, sadly, within the church what we have to do is search to find real supporters of this, because as you said, the church in many cases has taken the easy way out. And I don’t mean just the individual churches. I mean we have denominations that have, in fact, agreed to ordain homosexuals, to permit same-sex marriage within the church, pastors that are actually performing the ceremonies. So the church has compromised. So what happens? Well, what happened after 9/11? People flocked to the churches. Every pew was full. The next Sunday they were sitting on the sofas watching NFL football, because what they got in the church was no different than what they could get on secular television. So they said, “Why go there?” What we need to have in America today is the pulpits speaking the truth, biblical truth, standing on biblical principles. And, sadly, it’s not. And that’s why, you know, the church is declining, not only in membership, but in influence. The church should be the dominate influence in America. Get beyond this church and state separation; we should be dominant.
Ankerberg: Yeah. What is your goal in terms of reinstituting traditional marriage in the rest of the states? How many states have passed it now?
Boykin: Thirty-two. Thirty two states. What we are doing is we are working with churches. We’re working with individual ministers. We’re working with the Family Policy Councils of those states. We’re working with politicians that want to stay in this fight. We’re working with anybody that will work with us to help. And like, North Carolina was one of the most recent ones to pass this; they passed it by over 60%, and we got out there and worked with them. We did all we could to make sure that people were very much aware of exactly what the issues are. Because if you listen to the mainstream media, you’re going to get a skewed view of exactly what the issues are. It’s about the sanctity of marriage. And it’s about the family, John. That’s the key: It’s about the family. It’s not just, you know, how people,… what they do behind closed doors is not our issue. How they have sex is not our issue. You know, we may stand in opposition to it personally, but it’s about the family. And the most important structure in American society is the family. You know, you can say it’s the church. No, you can be a Christian; you can serve God and never go in a church. I think you should, but you can serve God. But you can’t maintain your society without the family.
Ankerberg: Why is it that the abortion fight is so important? And it seems like it’s swinging toward the pro-life position. What else needs to be done?
Boykin: Well, you know, first of all, churches really do need to get involved in this fight, and they need to get better informed on it. Because this pro-life issue is bigger than just abortion; it includes stem-cell; it includes end-of-life; and the whole nine yards. But we are winning the abortion battle; and the state legislatures are starting to take this on. And one of the reasons is because, something you never hear is that abortion is genocide in the black communities. I mean, over 30% of the children aborted in America today are black, and the black population in America is about 12-14%. So look at the disproportionate number of abortions. It’s genocide. And pastors in the black community, pastors in the black church, are really starting to emphasize this to people. But we as Christians, we need to be out there doing all we can to stand against Planned Parenthood and other organizations that are just out there committing evil.
Ankerberg: You’ve taken a strong stand in saying that we here in America should not extend First Amendment rights to people who want to institute sharia law for their area, for their state, for whatever. And you’ve used as an example what’s happening in Britain and France and other countries. What are people trying to do, and why is it that you don’t want to extend First Amendment rights to people who want to institute sharia? What is sharia, first of all?
Boykin: Thank you, I’m glad you asked that. First of all, sharia is Islamic law. It’s the law that cuts off the hands and the feet of the thieves. It subjugates women, makes them second-class citizens, that permits honor-killing and genital mutilation of women. And apostasy results in death; that’s the penalty for leaving the Islamic faith. But I’m glad you asked that question, because I want to go on record. I want to make sure I say this. Every Muslim in America that wants to worship according to the Five Pillars of Islam must be allowed to worship. They have a First Amendment right to do so. It’s the elements of the Muslim Brotherhood that want to implement sharia, or they want all of Islam to be covered by the First Amendment, are what we need to stand in opposition to. I support the right of Muslims to worship in America, as long as it’s the Five Pillars of Islam. But when they want to implement Islam as the totalitarian way of life that it is, we have to stand in opposition in that, and there’s no First Amendment protection.
Ankerberg: Yeah, because sharia basically is supposed to be God’s law, and if you have God’s law you can’t have any man-made law. So if you instituted sharia, by definition then you would have to get rid of the Constitution.
Boykin: That’s right.
Ankerberg: Is this happening overseas?
Boykin: Of course it is. Europe, the continent of Europe is going to become an Islamic continent by the middle of this century. And that’s not my assessment; it’s the assessment of all the experts. And Mark Stein, in his book America Alone, makes that point; Europe will be an Islamic continent?
Ankerberg: Why? Tell me the figures on that.
Boykin: What happens is Europe’s birthrate is just over 1.3. It takes a 2.1 birthrate in any society to repopulate. Europe is socialist; Europe is depending on the next generation to pay the bills that are going to come due because of their social programs. Their birthrate among native Europeans is just over 1.3; they can’t repopulate. There is no next generation. Therefore the solution is to bring in immigrants. The immigrants coming onto the continent of Europe are from North Africa and the Middle East. They are Muslims. And they repopulate at a birthrate of 5.6. Once they get to the continent of Europe, just do the math and all the experts will tell you, by the middle of this century, Europe will be an Islamic continent.
Ankerberg: Yeah, and actually they’ve instituted zones where sharia is in place and the Imams actually control that. If they have a fire, the police or the firemen do not go into those areas, because it controlled by Islamic Imams. It’s just fascinating to see them try to do this and the complications that makes. But you’re saying we’ve already had cases of law that have been brought into our courts where people have wanted to institute sharia. Talk a little bit about that.
Boykin: Frank Gaffney of the Center for Security Policies completed a study last summer: in 50 court cases in 23 states they discovered the judges admitted they used sharia to adjudicate the case. The one that most people will remember is the Muslim woman in New Jersey in the family court that went in and wanted a restraining order because her husband was beating her and raping her. And the judge said no. He’s a Muslim; under sharia he’s allowed to do that, no restraining order. Now, it was appealed and overturned, but that’s an example of what we’re dealing with. And there are pro-sharia websites that claim 150 cases where judges used sharia. That’s why you have states now all over the country that are trying to pass a law called “American Laws for American Courts” that will prohibit the use of sharia by judges in our states.
Ankerberg: Yeah, and we want Christians to be aware of all this stuff happening in our country. I want to close with a story about two men at Hampton-Sydney College, okay. You’ve taught there, and it’s why we need to pray for our nation. You say that, you know, all this stuff is taking place. Christians, besides getting involved, you have to pray that God undertakes for us, and something happened a long time ago with two men. Talk about that.
Boykin: 1798. The tenth college created in America, Hampton-Sydney College, all men’s college; still is today. At the end of the summer they came back to school. It was a Presbyterian seminary at the time. They were seeking God. They actually got very loud and boisterous, and ultimately the other students took them to the chancellor and wanted them to sort of tone it down. The chancellor invited them to do that; they refused. They kept praying and singing and rejoicing; but they were seeking God’s will in their lives. And finally a revival broke out, and it spread through that school, through the community, all the way up through Pennsylvania into New York. And then those two young men, when they graduated from Hampton-Sydney College, they took their money that they had, bought mules, went across the Appalachian Mountains. And they were the catalyst for the second Great Awakening which ultimately brought an end to slavery, because they would not be denied the opportunity to seek God and know what his will was in their lives.
Ankerberg: What would you say to Christians that are living right now about getting involved in what is happening here in our country?
Boykin: It is scriptural; it is imperative; and I believe that it’s God’s expectation of us as Christians. He put us here. He gave us the opportunity to live in this country and we have a right, but, more importantly, we have an obligation to use our faith in God to protect this nation.
Ankerberg: Folks, if you want to have an exciting book, get the General’s book, Never Surrender. It talks about all the things he had to do to get into Delta Force. Then he was a commander of a unit, then he became the commander of all Special Forces. And some of the experiences that he went through in some of our major conflicts and behind-the-scenes information, that is very, very interesting to read.
And, General, I just want to say thank you for coming. It was really tough just to break in to your schedule and to have you come. But I wanted the people to hear this information. I wanted them to hear it from your lips as to what’s taking place overseas, how you assess it in a military way, and then as a person who knows the Lord, the advice to Christians to keep on, to keep praying, to get involved in these things. Thank you so much for the stands that you’ve taken.
Boykin: Thank you, John.
Ankerberg: Folks, I hope that you will join me next week.
