Christian Warriors

I have very little sympathy with big wars to “make the world safe for democracy” or to “liberate foreign nations from tyranny.” It is the little wars for family and clan that engage my sympathy, which is why my favorite warriors are men who fought reluctantly and only when family and clan were attacked.

My two favorite Christian warriors are Rob Roy and William Tell. Rob Roy was a simple drover, minding his own business, when the English sought to divest his family of not only their home and property but also of their very lives. This was not to be borne. And Rob Roy made the English wish that they had left him alone. He brought them fire and sword. And, thank God, Rob did not end up like so many other Christian warriors, on the gallows or imprisoned. He died peacefully in the Highlands.

We all know of William Tell, the reluctant counterrevolutionary. “Place a hand on my kith and kin and I’ll find you and kill you though all the forces of hell stand in my way,” was the sentiment of William Tell. Gessler was doomed from the moment he acted with malice toward Tell’s son.

There is an incredible nobility in such heroes as Rob Roy and William Tell, and it is because of what they fought for. The modern wars for democracy and humanity will never produce heroes such as them because the modern wars are not for home and clan; they are for unspeakably foul causes such as democracy and capitalism. There is not one pure breath of mountain air in such causes.