Former Navy SEAL Benjamin Smith gave the crowd at the Restore America Rally at Drake Field in Peachtree City plenty to think about. Speaking on topics ranging from the current state of America and its potential future to the relevance of Christianity in American life, the North Carolina resident was one of a number of speakers at the Oct. 20 rally sponsored by the South Atlanta Tea Party.
Smith told the crowd of approximately 250 people the U.S is engaged in a “cold civil war,” a war of race and of haves and have-nots. It is one where the binding that holds the nation together should not be allowed to be undone, Smith said.
“In the future, the near-term, we’re going to have to deal with things,” Smith said. “The world is on fire, and it’s coming here. We need to band together, (with people) in your neighborhood, to see who can do what and what skills we all have.”
Continuing that line of reasoning, Smith said there should be firearms in every American household. Sticking with what he believes is coming, and one of the avenues that could help it unfold, Smith said the surveillance techniques he used overseas six years ago are being used on American soil today. The government knows how much electricity you use, they are in your phone and in your computer, he said.
“The military brass now tell us that we can go away and be quiet,” Smith said of the position taken by some high-ranking members of the military. And it was in the past few years that the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security in one of its periodic bulletins said veterans were potential domestic terrorists, as were those who have ever supported a third political party or those who support a pro-life stance on abortion. “But vets are starting to get involved because they see a nation that’s losing its way.”
Turning his comments to the recent attacks on U.S. embassies in Libya and Egypt and the deaths of Americans in Benghazi, Smith said there was a willful disregard by the administration for security requests coming from the two embassies.
“I lost two friends in Benghazi,” Smith added.
Smith spoke about the Judeo-Christian worldview he said was present at the founding of the country, and some of the reasons why those values are relevant. Noting that the Pilgrims left England under the yoke of oppression and made their way to the colonies, Smith said the reality today is that there is no undiscovered country left to flee to.
Noting his time in Iraq and other areas as a Navy SEAL, Smith spoke about an encounter that changed his way of thinking and prompted him to increase his research and understanding of events at home and in the world.
“I started to read after being asked (by an Iraqi) about why we were there, so that they could write their constitution,” Smith said, explaining that he gained a new perspective on freedom as he considered what the man had said.
Noting another aspect of his time in the Middle East, Smith referenced the average Iraqis who are just trying to get by and lives their lives. They were born into Islam, said Smith, adding that for those not born into the religion it can be a different situation. If it is not caliphate-related, it is to be crushed, Smith said.
Turning his comments to the past and melding them with the present, Smith said, “The Cold War was a war of civilizations and economies. We destroyed (the Soviet Union) financially in Afghanistan. Now are we not Russia in Afghanistan? Russia has put nearly $1 trillion in its Navy and is proposing to put bases in areas around the world. And while at the Putin-Obama meeting in Mexico, Obama looked like an insolent child who just got whipped.”
And on the Tea Party movement, Smith said he realized as a SEAL that he should learn more about his country’s history as those in the movement advocate.
“People need to read the Bible and the Founding Fathers. Doing so helped me to understand more about my faith,” said Smith.
Also speaking at the event was pastor William Temple of St. Simons Island. Dressed in colonial-era garb that made a significant impression, Temple offered a number of warnings about conditions that are impacting the United States. Among those were the growing national debt, the loss of inalienable rights and abandoning God as a nation.
“We get the government that we deserve,” Temple said, referencing the outcome when citizens allow their government to gain increasing power over their lives.
Later in the program, Lamar County pastor and business owner Ryan Christopher spoke on federal regulations and federal debt. Describing the nation’s march toward socialism, Christopher said, “It’s about powers and principalities and it’s evil.”
Christopher in citing an example of unbridled power out of the reach of citizens, maintained that the Federal Reserve is not a government entity, it is an entity owned by banking interests. Christopher in making the remark was in noteworthy company, since presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Andrew Jackson and from Abraham Lincoln to Franklin Roosevelt all remarked on the pervasive power over the U.S. economy held by the large banking interests.
Local businessman Marty Harbin was master of ceremonies at the event that also included Americans for Prosperity representative Virginia Galloway speaking in support of the Charter School Amendment going before voters Nov. 6 and local resident Angela Bean speaking in opposition to the amendment.
Live music throughout the rally was provided by Christian recording artist Jeremy Whitaker.
