The American Revolution provides many lessons that we can still learn today. We must pray for strength like the patriots of old.
From LeoHohmann.com. [I] sat down to watch a familiar movie, The Patriot, starring Mel Gibson in the role of a fictional character named Benjamin Martin, who finds himself drawn into the American Revolutionary War.
Have you taken your place on the wall?
It’s always been a favorite and I’ve seen it many times. But this time I would see the story unfold through an entirely new lens. There’s more to it, I found, than just a patriot hero, a keen military strategy and an intriguing history lesson.
The movie actually contains many of the essential elements of spiritual warfare, useful for us living on the earth today, heading into the year of our Lord, 2023, which promises to be another year of volatility and disruptive events.
While the movie received mostly high praise at its release back in 2000, if you Google “The Patriot” you will find some spurious things have been written in recent years by mainstream critics taking pot shots at Robert Rodat’s dramatic presentation of a story about revolutionary colonists who rebelled against the British Throne. His story centers on the life of one Benjamin Martin, a fictional character based loosely on the real-life character of Brigadier General Francis Marion, an American Revolutionary War officer, planter and politician also known in history as the Swamp Fox. …
If told well, the lesson from a good story can ring for generations. That’s why I think Rodat knocked it out of the park with this film, solidifying its lofty place in the American historical film genre, where it captures the psyche of the early American agrarian settlers who lived and worked far from the population centers in New York, Boston or Philadelphia. They formed militias to protect themselves from government mobs and faced a moment in history similar to what we are living in now where they were forced to make a decision: Do they confront the obvious evil that had come out of the shadows and into broad daylight, had even come for their children, or do they bow and offer up their posterity to this illegitimate thing claiming authority, claiming ownership, over their lives? …
I believe The Patriot offers a hidden commentary on the Christian believer’s natural desire to remain free, to refuse to bend the knee to any earthly authority that controverts the will of Almighty God and his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the sole source of our freedoms, and the moment any government or corporate entity makes the claim to usurp His role as the author and definer of right and wrong, it’s our duty to rise up and oppose that entity. …
When any earthly king or authority tries to subvert and supplant the laws of nature and of nature’s God, violating the sacred free will He instilled in us, that entity has now overstepped its bounds and gone rogue. It has given itself over to the Prince of Darkness. …
So what’s any of this have to do with The Patriot? After watching it again, I saw plenty of parallels between then and now.
For starters, when evil shows up and bares its fangs, you should expect that at least 97 percent of the people will be caught off guard and will cower. … Most will not even recognize the evil for what it is, but even among those who do, they would rather believe lies than truth. …
Benjamin Martin found himself in this camp, with the truth deniers, at the beginning of the film. He didn’t want to believe that the tyranny of the British Crown was really as bad as others were making it out to be and tried to justify his inaction. …
We see good people engaging in this same type of stubborn denial today. Even if the forces of darkness get their minions to pass laws or enact policies that are so blatantly evil, something like, say, “family friendly” drag queen shows presenting barely clothed men dancing erotically and simulating sex in front of young children, you will hear the 97 percent try to justify it or at least downplay it, as somehow not as bad as it looks. …
They listen to the whispers: Don’t get involved. That’s not your fight. Leave it for someone else. Another person. Another time. Another day.
They will always find some reason to cower, bend, back down, cut a deal, compromise.
Lesson number 1: You can’t negotiate with the devil.
Benjamin Martin learned this the hard way.
When the Revolutionary War broke out, Martin, played by Mel Gibson, was part of this first group, the 97 percent. He wanted nothing to do with it.
But he gets a staggering wakeup call when a British officer named Col. William Tavington arrives at his house with a garrison of troops. When a harmless scuffle breaks out, Tavington shoots and kills one of Martin’s young sons in cold blood right in front of his father’s eyes.
They slaughtered Martin’s young son like a stray dog. But these monsters aren’t done. They shackle his oldest son, Gabriel, and haul him off to be hung as a traitor because he had already enlisted in the Continental Army.
With the war now having arrived at his personal residence, Martin goes from the first group of 97 percent not wanting to fight, to the second group of 3 percent who rightly divided good from evil and became active volunteers in the fight against the Crown. …
Meanwhile, Martin continues to not only fight but recruit fresh blood into his now growing militia.
Lesson number 2: The initial volunteers will only get you so far when fighting a committed, determined, well-organized army of demons – and the British were all of the above, much like the globalists and leftists coming for our children today. Eventually you will need to call in backup and that means going out to recruit fresh foot soldiers. …
Benjamin went into the underbelly of society to find new recruits. …
While they had nothing in common at first, these men from country churches and tough-guy saloons ended up earning each other’s respect and making for a potent fighting force.
Lesson number 3: Do not falsely judge your neighbor based on his background being different or not as pristine as yours.
Eventually, British General Cornwallis begins to gather enough intel to identify the rebel militia and he agrees to an evil plan to annihilate it once and for all. Cornwallis turns to none other than Col. Tavington to carry out the task. This is the same Tavington who murdered Benjamin’s young son. Tavington figures out not only who is leading these devastating attacks on British troops but gets his hands on a list of all volunteers serving in the local militia, including names and addresses of family members.
So now Benjamin Martin is no longer anonymous. …
Lesson number 4: If you’re living in evil times and you choose to be on the side of good, you can only remain anonymous for so long. You will eventually have to embrace your role as an outspoken voice of resistance. …
The story goes on from there and I don’t need to relay any more of the details, other than to say that the small ambush attacks were effective for a time but were not enough to defeat an enemy of this caliber. Half-hearted attacks, blind-sided attacks must eventually turn into a full frontal assaults on the heart of the enemy’s troops. …
These battles started out with the two armies situated far apart, lobbing cannon balls and rifle volleys from a distance. …
As the fighting advances to the next stage, you bring out your muskets. A musket was a smooth-bore weapon that did not have the range or accuracy of a grooved-bore rifle, but when fired in synchronized volleys at a distance of less than 100 yards, they could be devastating. You can see the men falling more frequently now, to your right and to your left, but the smoke and the distance were still such that you couldn’t see exactly how many of your musket balls were landing hits on the enemy’s side.
Lesson number 5: You won’t always see the results of your fervent prayers, your hard work, your faithful service, at least not immediately.
Then the battlefield shrinks again. Sometimes one side will break through the lines only to find itself too far in and without enough manpower, at which point they will decide to retreat rather than face more devastating losses.
I don’t know what percentage of the overall Revolutionary War battles went to the final and most terrifying stage, but you had to know it was about to happen when you heard your commanding officer shout, “Fix bayonets!” …
Hand-to-hand combat ensues. You are now toe to toe and eyeball to eyeball with the enemy. You must fight like a madman and leave nothing on the field. …
These are what patriot men faced and this is how they reacted in 18th century America.
Imagine knowing even a tiny bit of this history and still wearing a Covid mask in 2023. Shame on you.
Where have all the Patriots gone?
But lest we get discouraged and feel we are alone in the pitched battles of today, we are not. I know quite a few brave men and women who I can count on to be with me in the trenches in 2023 and I’m sure you know some too.
Only about 3 percent of the colonists signed up to fight the mighty British Empire, which was roughly the equivalent of what we see fighting the modern technocratic beast system. …
That’s all it took, 3 percent. And I don’t expect it will be any more than that willing to head to the front lines in 2023 to fight today’s modern warfare, which is not fought with guns and canons but with ideas and information.
The main problem I see today is this: Many of the 3 percent are still fighting as if it’s the early stages of the war. They think they can launch an ambush attack here and there, then fade back into their comfortable homes, maybe turn on the NFL, play their video games, go to concerts, and remain anonymous. … We are, I believe, already beyond the stage of musket volleys and heading for hand-to-hand combat. At any moment now, our field General could shout: “Fix bayonets!” Are you ready? Will you even hear him when he issues the command? …
Until we develop that warrior mentality, we will never be ready for the battlefield. …
We follow Him with the purpose of becoming more like Him: Take up your cross and follow Me. …
How are you fighting for Christ? Share this article to encourage others to take up their crosses and follow Him.
(Excerpt from LeoHohmann.com. Photo Credit: Canva)