It’s Time for a Modern-Day Black Robe Regiment to Fight for Freedom Once Again

by Daniel Schmid

In Ecclesiastes 3, King Solomon instructs us that “to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven,” including “a time to keep silence, and a time to speak,” and, critically, “a time for war” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7-8). In January 1776, Peter Muhlenberg used that passage of Scripture to instruct his parishioners that the cause of liberty also imposed upon men of conviction certain seasons of duty. 

History recounts that Pastor Muhlenberg concluded his revolutionary sermon by stating: “In the language of the holy writ, there was a time for all things, a time to preach and a time to pray, but those times have passed away.” Instead, he recounted, “there is a time to fight, and that time has now come.”  

Upon concluding his rousing sermon, Muhlenberg removed his black clerical robe to reveal to his congregants his Colonel’s uniform for the Continental Army. After revealing his dutiful enlistment in the cause of liberty, Muhlenberg asked of his congregants: “Who among you is with me?” 

The answer: 300 men — who became the 8th Virginia Regiment. 

Muhlenberg in Virginia wasn’t alone. To underscore the significance the role the Black Robe Regiment played in Massachusetts, great American historian J.T. Headley famously noted that “the teachings of the pulpit of Lexington caused the first blow to be struck for American Independence.” 

It was pastors in the pulpits throughout the Colonies that inspired the courage, steadfastness, and heroism that birthed the American Republic. These men viewed instructing their flock in the truth as a sacred duty. They also understood, like the psalmist, this: “Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teaches my hands to war and my fingers to fight” (Psalm 144:1).  

It was because of these pastors’ convictions in the cause of justice that the British referred to them as the “Black Robe Regiment.” They led the charge against tyranny, spearheaded the revolution for liberty, and birthed a nation in freedom. 

Oh, how we need that again. 

Standing Against the Death of Innocents 

In Florida, voters will encounter proposed Amendment 4 — which will legalize abortion up to the moment of birth, remove all laws that would delay or restrict abortion of any kind, invalidate parental consent laws, and otherwise lead to a deluge of death in the Sunshine State. Similar measures (some even more extreme) will also appear on the ballots in Colorado, Maryland, Nevada, South Dakota, Arizona, Missouri, and New York. Arkansas, Montana, and Nebraska may face similar choices, with amendments pending either a verification of signatures or appeal decision. 

At the national level, Americans have been presented with a presidential and vice-presidential team that would make abortionist Kermit Gosnell blush. Just last year, Tim Walz, the governor of Minnesota and current vice-presidential nominee, signed a law erasing the requirement that doctors in Minnesota attempt to save the life of a child who miraculously survived the murderous knife of the abortionist. In other words, Walz openly and unrepentantly advocates for the murder of innocent human children both inside and outside the womb. 

Kamala Harris is no better. She spent her time as attorney general of California prosecuting undercover journalists for investigating Planned Parenthood’s unlawful traffic in aborted baby body parts. So, in Harris’ dystopian regime, pro-life investigators exposing horrific and violent crimes against innocent human life deserve to be thrown in jail, while those who were exposed for illegally manipulating their murderous, money-making machinations deserve government funding. 

Proverbs 8:36 tells us that those who hate God love death. Is it too much to ask the pastors in America to stand up and say the criminal slaughter of innocent children God formed in the womb is immoral and wrong? Is it really that difficult to say aloud from the sacred desk that the church must reject candidates and measures that support murder? Heaven forbid. 

Black Robes Need to Ride Again  

We need a modern-day Black Robe Regiment saying a vote for these state-level amendments is a vote for death, and a vote for these national politicians is lending your imprimatur to a murderer whose gubernatorial pen is drenched in the blood of innocent lives. 

Or, take it outside of the abortion context. Life is first because life is primary. It is the right without which no other right matters, and pastors ought to be able to stand behind a pulpit and say that without hesitation. But, the Black Robes need to ride again on a host of other issues. 

Take, for example, Walz’s open and unrepentant signing of legislation instructing the courts of Minnesota to take emergency jurisdiction over any child who enters Minnesota because he or she is unable to obtain radical gender mutilation surgery in that child’s home state, and to ignore any court orders of another state prohibiting a parent from engaging in such child abuse. So, according to Walz, Minnesota is well within its right to kidnap and force a child into life-altering gender mutilation surgery while ignoring the protestations of a parent concerned for his or her well-being. 

His would-be-boss, Kamala Harris, once again fares no better. Her Department of Justice is currently asking the Supreme Court of the United States to say that laws in Kentucky and Tennessee that prohibit doctors from performing radical gender mutilation surgeries on minors are unconstitutional violations of the Equal Protection Clause. In other words, according to Harris, the Constitution prohibits a state from banning child abuse. 

Christ said it would be better to tie a millstone around your neck and be drowned in the sea than to harm a child (Matthew 18:6). Does it really require much fortitude to stand up and say that radical, life-altering mutilation surgeries are harmful to children and the law should prohibit that? Should it be an unrealistic expectation for pastors to stand behind the sacred desk and proclaim that surrendering a child’s future on the altar of iniquity must end? Surely not. 

Unashamed to Proclaim Truth 

We need a modern-day Black Robe Regiment standing behind the pulpits of America to proclaim that a vote for individuals who support laws like Harris and Walz do is a vote for child abuse and child abusers. Pastors should unashamedly declare that dropping an affixed millstone into the sea would be far better on your eternal soul that dropping your vote into the ballot box for a ticket that advocates the destruction of the God-given, biological makeup of a child. 

The signatories to the Declaration of Independence — many of them members of the Black Robe Regiment — ended by noting that “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” And they did so to secure the blessings of liberty for themselves and their posterity. Oh, that a mere fraction of that level of courage would infuse the pulpits of America today.  

Pastors would do well to keep in mind the requirements provided to us by the prophet Micah: “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).  

One cannot act justly while refusing to condemn injustice openly and courageously; cannot love mercy while doing nothing to be merciful to the innocent human life of a child; and cannot walk humbly while preferring one’s prideful desires to fill pews over biblical obligations to tell the truth.  

Pastor Muhlenberg’s sermons inspired 300 men to sacrifice their lives in service of God-given, inalienable rights. All that is asked for now is to inspire your parishioners to vote.  

Is that really too much to ask? 

Originally published in The Stream.

To learn more about Liberty Counsel Associate Vice President of Legal Affairs Daniel Schmid, visit HERE.