Chuck Baldwin is a politician, author, conservative pastor and nationally syndicated radio talk show host. He was the Constitution Party’s presidential candidate for the 2008 election. Baldwin strongly opposes the United Nations, U.S. income taxes, the Patriot Act, and assaults on individual liberties and strongly supports the gold standard, the right to keep and bear arms, homeschooling, and pro-life legislation such as the Sanctity of Life Act. He authored Romans 13-The True Meaning of Submission and To Keep or Not to Keep: Why Christians Should Not Give Up Their Guns. He finally breaks his silence on Oregon.
Sheila Zilinsky talks to Chuck Baldwin about the situation in Oregon with the Hammond family and those there supposedly "supporting" them, after Baldwin took to Facebook and created a firestorm of comments, many critical, for highlighting the differences between what is being seen in Oregon and what happened in Nevada at the Bundy ranch in 2014.
I have been asked by international media and by many of my Facebook friends and followers to share my views regarding the situation in Oregon.
Let me be clear: the situation in Oregon does NOT remotely compare to the events that took place at the Bundy Ranch in Nevada. In Nevada, the BLM was the aggressor--including a very real threat of violence against the Bundy family. The Bundy family desperately appealed for help from their neighbors and friends. The legal nuances of the Bundy situation notwithstanding, the Feds gave the appearance of preparing another Waco incident that just could not be tolerated.
Over 80 innocent Americans, including elderly men and women and small children were murdered by our federal government during the unconscionable raid against the Branch Davidians outside Waco, Texas. There must NEVER be another Waco in this country!
But the decision of Ammon Bundy (Cliven Bundy’s son)--and the men who are with him--to take over a remote empty federal facility outside Burns, Oregon, is unwise, careless, and downright foolish. There is no cause for such action.
In the first place, the Hammond family (who are at the center of this controversy) clearly and emphatically said that they did NOT want any outside assistance. Through their attorney, they publically repudiated the actions of these men and chose to give themselves up to officials to serve out the sentence that had been handed them for setting fire to land that included federal land. There are great disagreements about whether the motive for the burning was innocent or malicious. And there is room for much debate regarding whether the crime (if it was a crime) truly warranted the sentence they received. Regardless, the Hammonds chose to accept their sentence and reject any outside assistance. That, by itself, settles the matter.
In the second place, these men in Oregon are acting as aggressors, not as defenders. There are no innocent men, women, and children being physically threatened by agencies of the federal government outside Burns, Oregon. Bundyville was a justified act of self-defense; Burns, Oregon is NOT.
In the third place, I personally believe that government agent-provocateurs infiltrated and agitated these men into taking this action--giving the federal government the excuse it needs to justify Obama’s Executive Order enacting stricter rules on gun purchases this week. In my opinion, the timing of these events is NOT coincidental.
Whether my supposition is true or not, it doesn’t justify the individual decisions of these men to act in this manner. If I could talk to them, I would encourage them in the strongest terms possible to peacefully walk away from this situation. All this does is fuel the anti-gun hysteria of already hysterical anti-gun zealots in and out of Washington, D.C., and also serves to allow the anti-gun media to further demonize proponents of the Second Amendment and lawful constitutionally-ordained militia.
The feelings of frustration--and even anger--by ranchers, farmers, and miners against the overreach of the federal government throughout the western states is legitimate and understandable. No doubt about it. However, there is a lawful and unlawful way of doing things and these men in Oregon are acting unlawfully. There is no just cause in Burns, Oregon, all other factors notwithstanding. I pray this all ends peacefully.
In the interview below you will hear Baldwin explain why he believes what he states above and his opinion of government abuses, specifically on the part of BLM, whom he is definitely not a fan of, and why this particular case is so important and the harm that will come to the patriot movement because of the actions of a few men.
Author Note - The original peaceful protest brought much needed attention to the abuses against the Hammond family by the federal government, via BLM. The intimidation, the land grab, the outright unfairness of two men serving their time just have the government come in, say they didn't serve enough and order them back to jail after charging them with terrorism for a grassfire they had permission to start in the first place.
The subsequent actions on the part of a few individuals calling themselves "militia," has not only muddied the waters and taken away from the original message, but has taken the spotlight off the crimes and unjust actions taken against the Hammonds by the federal government, and instead is causing real damage to the patriot movement.
