A question that reporters often ask Congressman Akin is this: How did having a son in Iraq impact your decisions as a lawmaker?
“It would be nice if I had a flashy story to relate. I grew up in the Vietnam era. I saw the Mel Gibson movie We Were Soldiers that accurately summarized my sense that there wasn’t good civilian leadership when our troops were at war (in Vietnam),” Akin said.
“So as a member of Congress I have a passionate belief that it’s not a light matter to send people to war. When we send men and women to war, we must tell them to win. Don’t send them into a no-win situation. Give them the best equipment possible. Make sure they can whip whoever they face, and get it done.”
“Having my own children in the military didn’t change my mind about anything, because I always felt like all those kids were my kids. You put a name on them, it’s more personal. It’s scarier.”
Akin’s foundations and principles are set. His beliefs in liberty are well grounded.
“I believe there are some principles you are willing to die for. I’ll die for my Creator. I will also die fighting to protect the liberties and freedoms that we inherited in this country. That’s what generations of Americans have been willing to do when their nation called. Their sons and daughters have responded throughout history because we have a creed we believe in,” he said of the principles found in the Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to be self evident…”
“There’s a God who gives basic rights to people. The job of government is to protect those rights. To boil it down to a formula: God gives basic rights to people. The job of the government is to be a servant, a protector of those God-given rights,” Akin said.
“So what’s the big deal about us fighting terrorists? Terrorists kill innocent people to make a political statement. Terrorists want to terrorize you and me to take away our liberty. We believe life is a gift from God the exact opposite point of view. We’ve always fought people who are polar opposites of ourselves. That’s what my children were brought up to believe. That’s what I believe. That’s what I do. My work is that I fight the war of ideas rather than bullets,” Congressman Akin explained.
Life is a gift from an everlasting God who created each human heart with a desire for freedom.
Thank you for creating me, for giving me liberty and basic rights. I pray for our government leaders, for their commitment to protect the rights you have given me.
“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” (Genesis 1:28)