Theodore Roosevelt's Advice to American Soldiers

Theodore (“Teddy”) Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States (1901-1909), is one of the many great (though imperfect) leaders that America has produced in a bygone era. Though there is no clear evidence that he was born again, he did profess faith in Christ, attended Episcopalian and Dutch Reformed Churches regularly, and was a student of Scripture, the Bible being one of the books that he carried on safaris in his “pigskin library.” Roosevelt’s militarily philosophy was to “speak softly and carry a big stick.” The hero of Rough Rider fame had often demonstrated the will and courage to fight when necessary, and he sent his “Great White Fleet” of 16 battleships on a world tour to remind the nations of his “big stick.” Roosevelt wrote the introduction to a pocket New Testament & Psalms distributed to World War I soldiers by the New York Bible Society. In Roosevelt’s day, the United States was still “the land of the free and home of the brave” for the very reason that the Bible was respected. In that day, it was legal, right, and proper to distribute Bibles anywhere and everywhere in American society. Roosevelt’s instruction to U.S. soldiers were diametrically opposed to the way that most armies have acted historically (and the way that the German and Turkish armies, in particular, acted). Following is what he wrote: “The teachings of the New Testament are foreshadowed in Micah’s verse (Micah vi. 8): ‘What more does the Lord require of thee than to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’ DO JUSTICE; and therefore fight valiantly against the armies of Germany and Turkey, for these nations in this crisis stand for the reign of Moloch and Beelzebub on this earth. LOVE MERCY; treat prisoners well, succor the wounded, treat every woman as if she was your sister, care for the little children, and be tender to the old and helpless. WALK HUMBLY; you will do so if you study the life and teachings of the Saviour. May the God of justice and mercy have you in His keeping” (emphasis in the original).

(Friday Church News Notes, November 6, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143)

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