Battle for the Homefront

Every day we have military helicopters and jets flying above our house--they're practicing. We live near a base, and we take their presence for granted, just like we take our freedom for granted. I remember spending time in Israel, where at the holy sights and even the ice-cream shops the young men were carrying their rifles, and not just for practice--they were active soldiers who at any moment might rush the crowd off the street into the nearest open door because someone left a bomb in a backpack on the curb, or fighting broke out at the corner.

I've been in several countries where armed soldiers were as common to see there as Starbucks, McDonalds, and starving veterans and artists are here. We live in a blessed nation, no question about it. We don't have to worry about rebel armies coming in and taking over our towns then taking our children to join their forces. We don't have to wonder where the next attack is going to happen or who is going to steal our next meal.

But there are other, more subtle wars going on. As I was reading scriptures this morning I was again astonished at the violence and evil going on with some of these ancient people. They were willing to destroy their entire civilizations in the name of revenge and power, arming their men and boys, and sacrificing their women and children. It struck me though, that although our communities aren't in the streets fighting for liberty, our sons often "delight in bloodshed" in the video games they play or movies they watch, and our women and children are sacrificed to pornography and filth available at the touch of a button.

Satan does get smarter and smarter--he's much more subtle where he needs to be, but still as destructive and dangerous. A community can be destroyed just as much by moral disintegration as by bombs and bullets. We have to be ever more vigilant in our defenses. We have to keep our homes safe havens, read scriptures, pray, serve, go to church and the temple, be seekers of the good and righteous to be filled with those things so there isn't enough room for the evil.

The battle is still raging, stronger than ever. It's just that the manner of warfare has changed. We know who the victor will be, and that's the side I want my family to be on.