CEM’s Ron Dart Apologizes, Sort of

The Journal announced the following in an email yesterday:

No intent to allege cowardice

[Regarding “Open Letter to Ron Dart: We Are Not Cowards,” an editorial by Thomas M. Geiger in The Journal, March-April 2007]: This is the letter I sent to Mr. Geiger in reply:

Thank you for your letter and the work you have done in analyzing the shooting of the brethren in Brookfield. By coincidence, it arrived in my office the day after the Virginia Tech shooting, so the entire picture was illuminated in a way that otherwise might not have been.

I do feel I failed to take into account the shock and disorientation of the victims, just as was the case in Virginia. There was simply no time for the event to even register on the brain, much less react to it.

But, in any case, it was not my intent to make a charge of cowardice. Rather, I was drawing it, however mistakenly, as an illustration of a culture of pacifism, and an allegory of how churches can be assaulted doctrinally or intellectually and people fail to act against it.

I think we would agree that the WCG practiced pacifism at some level, and, since the LCG is closely related to that culture, they would also be influenced by it.

I know that in years gone by the membership depended on the ministry to keep the wolves at bay and did not see their own responsibility in doing so.

In the VT shooting there were some bright lights who tried to act against the killer, most notably the gentleman who was a holocaust survivor. I think, in his lifetime, he had learned that allowing yourself to be led like a lamb to the slaughter is a fool’s game.

It is my hope that the brethren in the church will learn to react quickly and forcefully against attacks on the church, however they may come.

Thanks for taking the time to write and for the kind approach you took in your letter.

Ronald L. Dart

I agree that we in LCG are not cowards, but contrary to the claims of various ones, we are pacifists.

In the “apology” above, Ron Dart still takes exception to being a pacifist. A pacifist is not someone who will never try to stop someone from harming themselves or others (as Ron Dart has implied before), a pacifist is one who will not kill or participate in carnal warfare.

Ron Dart, however, has endorsed the idea that true Christians can participate in warfare. This is a departure from biblical and Church of God teachings.

Two articles of possible interest may include:

Teachings of Christian Educational Ministries Ron Dart’s confederation (not a church).
Military Service and the Churches of God: Do Real Christians Participate in Carnal Warfare? Here are current and historical perspectives on a matter which show the beliefs of the true church on military participation.