Using force to enact your personal government is un-American

Arab, Alabama is a town with around 8,380 residents in the heart of what many consider the center of the nation’s most conservative congressional district. Its homes are lined with both the American flag and the Confederate flag, and many also have banners supporting various right wing organizations, the most prevalent being the Oath Keepers.

Founded by a former Army paratrooper in 2009, the Oath Keepers has quickly become one of America’s largest antigovernment extremist groups. It heavily recruits current and former military and law enforcement members, encouraging them to see themselves as the last line of defense against domestic tyranny. As they boldly proclaim, “America’s veterans truly are like a sleeping giant. It is time to awaken them and fill them with a terrible resolve to defeat the domestic enemies of our Constitution.” Of the people arrested in the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol, around one out of 10 was a current or former member of the military.

Joshua James is a 34-year-old man from Arab, Alabama. He was injured by a blast while serving in the Army just outside of Baghdad, and returned home with PTSD and trying to heal from the death-defying experience. The decorated veteran was helped by the military to start a small business in Arab, and has been known to be a soft-spoken, God fearing, family man with three kids. Most thought of him as an Army combat veteran and Purple Heart recipient. Many found it had to accept when he was arrested.

Federal agents described James much differently: an extremist who had not just broken the law but carried out an assault on the same government he had sworn to defend as a soldier. He was charged with conspiracy, obstruction of an official proceeding, and entering and remaining in a restricted building or grounds. Recently, a Grand Jury indicted James and 11 others members of the Oath Keepers with seditious conspiracy and other crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol last Jan. 6. If convicted, James and the others face 20 years in prison.

So, what happened to make this veteran become confused and consider the government he took an oath to defend the enemy and his responsibility to challenge it? I remember some of the brainwashing

that took place during the Vietnam Conflict, how after indoctrinating prisoners with false information and heightening their fears, as few as 20 enemy soldiers were able to watch over thousands of American soldiers with no one even thinking about escaping. This led to the military’s development of brand new strategy for dealing with brain washing and changed a lot of what happens during military training. The same thing is happening today.

The leaders of Oath Keepers have developed many of the same techniques.

It’s easy to find fault with our government these days, and too many veterans feel isolated and alone when they leave the military service. Feeling alone and facing the confusion over who is right or wrong in our government’s leadership coupled with PSTD easily causes them to feed on the suggestions leaders of the Oath Keepers put forth: The right to bear arms, to publicly be heard, and then the chance to resist what appears to be wrong in favor of doing something about it, especially if your national leader encourages you, confuses them. Apparently, James got caught up in this process, left his family and business, and began to promote treacherous

thinking and actions. Although many people in Arab still think of him as a “good guy,” it is obvious that he made some grievous mistakes, mistakes that will alter his life from now on.

It’s easy to get caught up in the thinking of the Oath Keepers and other terrorist organizations. However, the insurrection attempt on our government by misled men and women last year failed to take into account the potential result of their actions. If the insurrection had succeeded, what would have happened? Yes, Donald Trump would have been elected president; but then, what? Considering all of the lies, the conspiracies within the White House, and the

openly breaking of the law, can anyone really believe that this kind of leadership is better than what we have? And, what makes an Oath Keeper think that he is better at keeping the Constitution and running the government than our elected officials?

It is our privilege as Americans to disagree with our government and to even become angry with some of the decisions being made or not being made, but our Constitution does not delineate a process for establishing a dictator; instead, it provides a method of correcting mistakes in a democratic way. We do that at the ballot box and in communicating with our elected officials what

we feel and want. That is being American, not deciding for yourself what is right or wrong and then using force to enact your personal government.

••• Robert Box has been a law enforcement chaplain for 29 years. He is a master-level chaplain with the International Conference

of Police Chaplains and is an endorsed chaplain with the American Baptist Churches USA. He also currently serves as a deputy sheriff chaplain for the Benton County Sheriff’s Office. Opinions expressed in the article are the opinions of the author and not the agencies he serves.