The Words of the Harding Family
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The Words of the Harding Family |
Hello Family! On this Veterans Day I would like to speak to all of you about service from the point of view of a fellow Unificationist. I chose to go the route of military service, which has not been all peaches and cream. And some of you have asked me, “Why did I pick up the cross of military service?”
On July 26, 1998 I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. My desire was to serve God and serve my nation. There was no global war on terror at the time, yet we did train day and night in the event that the President would call upon us to defend the freedoms our Creator has so richly bestowed upon this Nation.
Currently, I have served ten years on two tours of duty to Southeast Asia and four tours to Iraq. I did so in the capacity of infantry rifleman, aka “a grunt.” Why as an Unificationist did I choose this path? Simple: I recognized there is evil in the world. And that evil must not go unchecked, lest it should influence others in the wrong way. As I learned through my activism with Unificationist clubs in college, this evil came from within me. I determined after graduating from college that I would go down to the bottom and work my way up.
There is no lower place one can go than as a maggot recruit at Parris Island. The only thing that wasn’t stripped away from me there was my identity as a child of God. The Drill Instructors couldn’t take away the love of God from me, the love of my wife, the love of my family, etc.
They rebuilt and trained me to value honor, courage, and commitment. I endured many sleepless nights and sweaty days wracking my mind and body. My Unificationist character education has held the keel of my mind steady now for more than ten years. Have I made mistakes and sinned in my ten years of service? “Yes,” but I have disciplined myself to never giving up. I really don’t want to go to Heaven. I want to bring other people there. I hope I am the last one in, and all my squad has their rack space in Heaven before I show up. My religious training has taught me to love my enemies more than my own children.
True, I also joined the military to make money for my family, have a computer and a car, and be able to support my church with offerings and tithing. Ideals not grounded in reality don’t really have any value. Service brings these ideals to earth. The Marine Corps allowed me to get on my feet financially and better support our faith community as well. As a Unificationist I don’t accept the reality of this messed-up culture, and I strive to serve day by day in peacetime or in war to make the world a better and safer place. I chose to do this through military service.
At the Fourth-of-July Rose Bowl event the other branches of the service were out in full force showing off humvees, promoting the GI Bill for college, and speaking about the benefits you could get from joining their respective service. The Marines displayed their weapons and had a pull-up bar. Do you have what it takes? President Kennedy was famous for challenging Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you,” but to “ask what you can do for your country.” The Marine Corps embodies this remark. Do you have what it takes to go to the worst places in the world, accomplish the mission whether it be training, humanitarian assistance, or God-forbid combat and get the job done? I remember, too, when I joined the recruiters, seeing the pull-up bar. They didn’t even talk to me. In order to talk to the recruiter, I had to jump up on the bar. As a Unificationist I liked this -- this service was for me.
Again, back to earth. The military and the Marine Corps include by far some of the heaviest drinkers, smokers, and promiscuous people I have ever met. Have I been influenced by that negative peer pressure? Yes, I have, but I have also influenced that nasty culture we talk about in lectures called the Fallen World. I’ll give you the names of more than two hundred Marines, ranking from private to Colonel, who know what my faith is, its founder and what I have done with it. The evil in me and the evil in these guys doesn’t scare me any more. I just deal with it. I stumble, but I will never give up showing the words I have been taught by my God. You know what shocks the Marines the most? It is that I have a wife and three kids and have been married for more than 16 years and still go out and sacrifice in peacetime and in a time of war. I am proud to be a Unificationist. We have something so much better than this rotten culture. I have chosen to light my lamp on the background of military service. I admit, it is not for everyone.
So I wish you all a Happy Veteran’s Day. To my brothers in arms, I pledge I will not let your sacrifice go unnoticed on earth or beyond. I have your six and will do all I can to help you make it to our true home. Semper Fidelis to all you jarheads out there! And to all Unificationists who might question military service as a way to achieve peace, I just say “Someone’s got to do it.”
Justin Harding joined the Unification Movement in 1989. In 1992 he received the marriage blessing with Yuriko Harding at the 30,000-couples Blessing. He graduated from the University of Bridgeport in 1998 and enlisted that year in the United States Marines Corps. He has served with the Second Battalion Fifth Marine Regiment "The Most Decorated Infantry Battalion in the USMC" for the last 10 years as an Infantry Antitank Assaultman. His highest personal Awards include a Bronze Star with a "V" for valor in combat, the Purple Heart, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medals, and the Combat Action Ribbon.