It was a crisp September morning, just like today, when Americans strained to see through the fog of war to discern what was unfolding before their eyes.
Muslim jihadists turned four routine airline flights into human missiles aimed at the heart of America. A quarter-century ago, 210 passengers and 33 crew became cannon fodder aimed at 2,734 non-combatants.
Osama Bin Laden’s “Letter to America” set forth the goal: “The first thing that we are calling you to is Islam. The religion of the Unification of God.”
Despite his clear and unambiguous words, those who considered themselves our rulers – both in media and in government – refused to adjust their hyper-secularized worldview.
President George W. Bush assumed the role of America’s theologian-in-chief to preach: “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That’s not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace.”
In the days that followed this infamous speech, millions of truly peaceful Christians watched themselves painted with the broad brush of “Fundamentalism.”
I vividly remember the confusion and consternation as talking heads uniformly turned their ire not on the religion that calls for Jihad, but on religion in general – and Christianity in particular.
Just like that, we were no longer permitted to debate the truth of the Holy Trinity verses the “Unification of God.”
Instead, anybody with the temerity to give God more glory than the tooth fairy was painted with a target as bright as those who were being “droned” in the Afghani mountains.
The first shots at that target were made with words.
The “New Atheists” like Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris wrote vile and dishonest tomes blasphemously titled, “God Is Not Good,” and “The End of Faith.”
These screeds gave rise to social media rhetoric.
I remember my shock and dismay the first time one of my formerly Christian Facebook friends re-posted a particularly disgusting monologue from a late-night “comedian.”
Soon, that rhetoric turned to lawfare.
Bakers and florists, teachers and artists were placed in the crosshairs.
Dragged into court for decades, their businesses were bankrupted, savings depleted, and good names trashed.
Even their grandchildren were hounded out of state-run schools by those claiming to define “love.”
Then, last fall, on another crisp September morning, that rhetoric became kinetic.
A 150-grain missile of lead was guided to its target by a scoped rifle.
Charlie Kirk, who had taken up the challenge to meet words with words, never knew what hit him.
But it wasn’t the rifle shot that woke me up. It was the minions who applauded it.
There, in the ugly recesses of the comments section, I clearly saw the true nature of the conflict.
The so-called war on Western Civilization was never about skin color, real estate, or imaginary lines on a map. It has always been a war on the religion that shaped our world.
There is no quality in the Wyoming soil that calls a person to love the Lord with heart, mind and soul and to love his neighbor as himself.
That comes only from the one True God (Matthew 19:19; 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27). That’s why no Christian would aim a passenger jet at innocents or a rifle at one who came to parley.
It’s time to say this plainly once more.
They will paste nonsense labels on you: Nazi, Fascist, Tea-Partier, Freedom Caucus, MAGA, Christian Nationalist, hater, and others not fit for print.
Don’t waste your time objecting. The war against Christendom is not won by self-defense. It is only won by self-sacrificing love.
Love babies – born and unborn – whose lives are threatened by violence and neglect.
Give them a voice in the doctor’s office, on the floor of the legislature, and before the bench of our highest courts.
Love children – born and unborn – whose world is threatened by the specter of divorce.
Call on the government that provides marriage certificates to enforce them against fraudsters.
Call your churches that witness marriage vows to hold them sacred. And support your married friends with prayers and encouragement.
Love prepubescent kids by refusing to “pass by on the other side” (Luke 10:31-32).
When fraudsters from the medical profession or the pharmaceutical giants entice them into self-harm through mismatched hormones and mutilating surgeries, stand up to the bullies.
Love Wyoming’s students – whether in our university, our high schools, our middle schools, and our grade schools.
Love them enough to insist that they be taught the truth. Teach them about their creation.
Teach them about the truth of sexuality, the truth of marriage, the truth of America’s founding, and the truth that humans are more than higher-order animals.
From the New York skies of 9-11 to the rooftop at Utah Valley University, we have been fired at by missiles – small and large. Do not respond in kind. Rather, kindly respond.
Speak the truth in love. Speak plainly about God and those who are created in His image. That’s the truth that built Christian civilization.
Jonathan Lange is a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod pastor in Evanston and Kemmerer and serves the Wyoming Pastors Network. Follow his blog at https://jonathanlange.substack.com/. Email: JLange64@protonmail.com.
