Richard King
Puritan Board Senior
I was just wondering how you guys and gals ('yall'...as we say down here) feel about a Christians duties of citizenry?
Is there such a duty? I did a stint with the Texas State Guard and I participate with a ham radio emergency responce team and I was wondering what the feelings are about doing so if it conflicts with Sabbath etc.
Also I read this in Wikipedia and it struck me as different than the public perception of Puritans:
"The early Puritan colonists of America considered the militia an important social structure, necessary to defend their colonies from Indian attacks. All able-bodied males were expected to be members of the town militia. During the French and Indian Wars the town militias formed a recruiting pool for the Provincial Forces. The legislature of the colony would authorize a certain force level for the season's campaign, and based on that set recruitment quotas for each town militia. In theory militia members could be drafted by lot if there were not volunteers enough to meet the quota, however this was rarely resorted to as Provincial soldiers were highly paid (more highly paid then their regular British Army counterparts) and rarely engaged in combat.
In the American Revolutionary War, colonial militiamen or armed citizens agreed to turn out for service at a minute's notice. The term minutemen is used especially for the men who were enrolled (1774) for such service by the Massachusetts provincial congress. These were also known as the "valiant farmers" who fought against the British at the battles of Lexington and Concord."
Any thoughts?
Is there such a duty? I did a stint with the Texas State Guard and I participate with a ham radio emergency responce team and I was wondering what the feelings are about doing so if it conflicts with Sabbath etc.
Also I read this in Wikipedia and it struck me as different than the public perception of Puritans:
"The early Puritan colonists of America considered the militia an important social structure, necessary to defend their colonies from Indian attacks. All able-bodied males were expected to be members of the town militia. During the French and Indian Wars the town militias formed a recruiting pool for the Provincial Forces. The legislature of the colony would authorize a certain force level for the season's campaign, and based on that set recruitment quotas for each town militia. In theory militia members could be drafted by lot if there were not volunteers enough to meet the quota, however this was rarely resorted to as Provincial soldiers were highly paid (more highly paid then their regular British Army counterparts) and rarely engaged in combat.
In the American Revolutionary War, colonial militiamen or armed citizens agreed to turn out for service at a minute's notice. The term minutemen is used especially for the men who were enrolled (1774) for such service by the Massachusetts provincial congress. These were also known as the "valiant farmers" who fought against the British at the battles of Lexington and Concord."
Any thoughts?