Images of medieval crusaders get shared online as if Christians today are supposed to gear up, grab a sword, and go fight “for God.” It makes for dramatic memes — but it has nothing to do with Scripture or the U.S. Constitution.
The real danger isn’t Christians defending their families or forming lawful militias.
The danger is people confusing holy war rhetoric with biblical responsibility and constitutional order.
Let’s separate the truth from the theatrics.
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1. The Crusades Were Not Holy — They Were Human Politics in Armor
The Crusades weren’t a shining example of Christian obedience. They were a mixture of:
• territorial ambition
• papal power struggles
• political alliances
• economic motives
• tribal identity wrapped in religious language
Yes, Christians were persecuted abroad. That part is true.
But the response turned into mass violence, slaughter, revenge killings, and “God wills it!” crusader chants that had nothing to do with the New Testament model of following Christ.
Human anger + religious branding = disaster.
That’s not divine justice.
That’s political violence wearing a cross.
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2. Jesus Permitted Self-Defense — But He Never Commanded Holy War
This is the part people get wrong.
Jesus did tell His disciples to buy a sword (Luke 22:36).
Not to conquer. Not to invade.
But to protect themselves while traveling dangerous roads.
Biblically:
• self-defense is legitimate
• defending your family is legitimate
• protecting the innocent is legitimate
But Jesus explicitly rejected the idea of religious violence.
When Peter used a sword to defend Jesus Himself, Jesus said:
“Put your sword back in its place.” (Matthew 26:52)
Jesus allows personal defense.
Jesus forbids holy war.
Those two truths stand side by side.
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3. The Constitution Supports Militias — But Not Theocracy
Here’s where the modern context matters.
The U.S. Constitution:
• permits and protects militias
(“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State…”)
• protects self-defense and firearms ownership
(Second Amendment)
• protects religious liberty
(First Amendment)
But the Constitution also:
• rejects any form of holy war
• rejects theocracy
• rejects religious control of government
• establishes civilian rule, not religious rule
A militia is constitutional.
A holy army is not.
A community defense group is constitutional.
A crusader force “for God” is not.
Defense is lawful.
Theocracy is un-American and unbiblical.
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4. Modern Calls for a “Christian Crusade” Are Neither Biblical Nor Constitutional
When people today post flaming-cross memes or call for Templars to “rise up,” they are mixing:
• internet anger
• fear
• tribal identity
• and bad theology
There is zero biblical support for Christians starting a holy war.
And zero constitutional support for a religious army acting outside civilian authority.
If God intended to command a holy war today, He would do so unmistakably — prophetically, supernaturally, undeniably.
Instead we have:
• Facebook memes
• political influencers
• outrage merchants
• and people confusing adrenaline with the Holy Spirit
That’s not revelation.
That’s manipulation.
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5. Satan Loves Holy War Fantasies
If the Enemy wanted to destabilize a nation, divide Christians, and destroy legitimacy of real self-defense, he would whisper:
“Yes, you’re righteous.
Pick up a sword FOR GOD.
Ignore Scripture.
Ignore the Constitution.
Bring the chaos.”
The Enemy doesn’t need Christians to worship idols.
He just needs them to behave like crusader warlords in Jesus’ name.
Division, rage, and religious violence serve his purposes — not God’s.
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6. Real Courage Today Requires Two Things:
Biblical clarity
and
Constitutional obedience
So Christians today absolutely can:
• defend their families
• form lawful militias
• train, prepare, and protect
• resist tyranny
• stand against persecution
• guard their communities
All of that is both biblical and constitutional.
But Christians may not:
• launch a religious holy war
• declare themselves God’s army
• kill in God’s name
• use the cross as a justification for bloodshed
• abandon the rule of law
• confuse political rage with divine calling
That crosses both biblical lines and constitutional lines.
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Final Word
The Crusades are not the model for Christians — the Gospel is.
The Constitution is not the enemy of Christian strength — it protects it.
Self-defense and militias are legal and legitimate — but holy wars are not.
We have no sign from God to start a religious war.
We have no permission from Scripture to imitate the Crusades.
We have no authority under the Constitution to create religious militias.
Defend your home.
Defend your family.
Defend the innocent.
Train. Prepare. Stand firm.
But don’t confuse anger for God’s voice, and don’t baptize political chaos with a cross.
That isn’t righteousness —
that’s exactly what the Enemy wants.
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Do you oppose the 800 year Reconquista of Spain?
The Crusades were complex as you listed, yet they weren’t simply an invasion and conquest. They were a strategic counter-offensive to regain lost territory to the previous centuries of Muslim conquest.
We did not declare war on Germany and Italy until they first declared war on us. If the Islamists declare war on us, by their actions if not their words, should we not defend ourselves?
A mishmash of conflicting ideas and thoughts in this article. But I will address just a few. But first, by way of disclosure, I do not support the notion of “God-commanded Holy War,” such as when the Hebrews invaded Canaan. But… that was then. Today we have the entire corpus of Scripture that shows us what a Godly community should look like. The problem today… most people don’t have a clue what a Godly community should look like. With that said, my comments on the article………
This good author demonstrates a compartmentalized worldview, the idea that there is a “spiritual” and “secular” realm in life. It is the notion that for some reason politics has no place in the Christian worldview (how dare the Crusades involve… politics!). Of course, one must ask the good writer why it was legitimate for him to have served in the U.S. Army for a full career, serving the secular state which became godless many decades ago, all in the name of expanding the agenda of the Neocon Globalist American Empire (GAE) in foreign lands, and yet say it is wrong for Christians to take up arms against evil that is raiding their communities. Indeed, inquiring minds want to know!
Regarding the Crusades, it must be properly understood in the context of the era. Southern Europe was being repeatedly raided by Muslim forces, and the Crusades were a counteroffensive against these raids. Indeed, it was none other than Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406), noted Muslim historian, who wrote in his Muqaddimah that the Crusades (he didn’t call it such, of course) was a reaction by Europe against repeated Muslim raids. Urban II called for a Crusade to unite the disparate nations of post-Rome Europe. After all, what did England have to do with defending France’s southern coastline? How was the Holy Roman Empire impacted by the Muslim raids in Italy? To get them to unite, the Pope had to call for action based on commands from the Holy See. That fallen men did otherwise is not new with the Crusades, and atrocities have been repeated since by all nations, including the USA.
As an aside, it is worth noting that in 2010, I was in Saudi Arabia training American and Allied personnel regarding early Islamic warfare (of which I’m a peer reviewed specialist). A major, who was from Dearborn MI stated that Dearborn looked more like downtown Riyadh. That was 15 years ago.
It is fascinating that the good author says we have no Constitutional authority to create “religious militias.” This again demonstrates his compartmentalized worldview, because even the secular state is religious by nature. ALL systems of government and life are religious by nature. So, the author tells us that “secular” militias are ok, but “religious” militias are not. So, we can fight for the GAE, but not to protect a Godly order in our community. We can worship at the foot of the almighty secular god and wage war on its behalf, even on the opposite side of the planet, but we cannot form militias of like-minded Christian believers to defend our very homes and communities. If we do form militias, they must be “secular,” whatever that means.
I can understand the good author’s frustration in all of this, but really wonder what he is currently doing besides working his teaching job and enjoying his O-6 retirement benefits. Far too many in the Conservative Christian movement spend a lot of time in talk, but very little time in concerted, focused action. Far too many complain about everything around them, wringing their hands as they say “ain’t it awful?” And yet, they never lift a finger to do real work to fix the problems.
And of course, if one has a compartmentalized worldview, then the so-called “secular” world continues to slide into the abyss, even as we sit in our churches, sing our songs, raise money for gift boxes for Christmas, and do our “Christian” thing. Meanwhile, evil spreads…. see Amos 5:21-24.
Well said.
I understand the author’s sentiment, however, no Christians are starting a Holy War anywhere that I’m aware of. The only (un)holy war I see (here, Europe and Africa) is the ongoing one led by the islamofasicst death cult robots. ICE should be concentrating 300% effort into ridding us of their presence in our country.