Many modern Beachy’s fear that one day soon, if this horrible war on terror continues, the government will impose the draft. This would be a terrible thing, in that it would require hundreds of Beachy’s from all across the nation to register for alternative service. Before you reach for the nitroglycerin tablets, let me show you how a draft could prove as a blessing to the Beachy constituency.

  1. First, how many times in the past two years have you heard impassioned pleas for workers at Mountain View, Faith Mission Home, Hillcrest, and other Christian works? If you are like most Beachy’s, you have heard plenty. If the draft would be instated, voila! Those places of volutary service would be so swamped with workers that they would be required to instate waiting lists.
  2. Second, Beachy’s have been registering concerns about the falling growth rates in the Beachy movement. I suspect that part of this problem is due to the large numbers of unmarried young people in our churches. You see, when young people stay unmarried for longer periods of time, they do not tend to have children as soon as they would have if they had gotten married sooner. By instituting the draft, the government would create a situation in which many Beachy young people would be brought into close proximity with one another, undoubtedly allowing young men to meet young ladies they otherwise would never have learned to know. This will lead, under ideal circumstances to marriage, which will probably lead to children, which will increase the Beachy birth-rate. (The falling birth-rate is yet another reason that Beachy’s must continue to stand against the television.)
  3. Lastly, the large service influx would refocus our young people into things that really matter, such as service, helping others, and not wearing three-button shirts, and would detract them from spending their lives on such pursuits as accumulating wealth, playing volleyball, and writing Beachy blogs.

The case is clear. The draft would undoubtedly revitalize the Beachy movement. But then again, so would a greater emphasis on a clean heart and I, for one, am not holding my breath.

“Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don’t.”