Hey, Wild-Eyed Libertarian Mil-Bloggers: Need a Chaplain?

Okay.  Here're some things you may not know about Father Anonymous:

• He used to read Soldier of Fortune.  Occasionally.
• He once crossed a picket line of his own college professors to hear G. Gordon Liddy speak.
• He liked Liddy's speech so much that he read the guy's autobiography.  Which he also liked.
• His son is named after a Republican president.  (And, okay, a 4th-century Turkish bishop).
• His mother once dated Ron Paul.  Have we mentioned that often enough yet?
• A number of his relatives are required by their employers to be proficient with firearms.  Highly proficient.

All of which we mention only to make the point that the little guy isn't all about Latin poetry and the conventional moderate-leftiness of mainstream Protestantism.  In fact, despite a certain age-related mellowing, he's never really been "moderate" anything.  During the Soldier of Fortune era, for example, he also routinely fell asleep to WBAI radio; his favorite programs were The Moorish Orthodox Radio Crusade, the Real Live Lesbian Show, and Democracy Now!.  You may not know what these are, but -- trust us -- there's nothing moderate about them.

Nonetheless, it came as a mild surprise to check our stats (for the first time), and discover that one of the sites which has brought us the most clicks this week is called The Arctic Patriot.   It seems the author recommended our recent piece on agriculture policy, and his readers followed up.  Thanks, people!

So, we naturally wondered, who is the Arctic Patriot?  We assumed at first that there was a Lutheran connection  -- perhaps the blogger was a fellow Finn?  But no; he seems to be a displaced Alaskan, with passionate views on religion and politics.  What a delight -- those are things we like, too!  Still, at a quick reading, it is pretty clear that our politics are different; indeed, it is unlikely that we have ever voted the same way on anything, up to and including what to order for lunch at the office.

On the other hand, his description of Jesus is very appealing.  So there's that.

Further reflection brought into relief a fact of which we had only been half-aware:  some measurable number of the Egg's readers, and commenters, are bloggers with a military, or at least militia-y, bent.  They seem to range from active soldiers to crypto-survivalists.  Some are avowed Christians, others appear to be skeptics.  They seem to be united by an affection for guns, a suspicion of the government, and a predilection for extreme rhetoric.  Many (like this one) are lamentably casual about spelling and punctuation.

Needless to say, any and all readers are welcome (although we are bit picky about comments, to deter trolling).  It gives Fr. A. real delight to imagine that his occasional rambles on John Mason Neale are read, not only in oak-paneled rectories but also in concrete bunkers and camouflaged (but web-enabled) bivouacs.

Which brings us to our real point.  Fr. A. is available for call at the moment -- seeking a pulpit to call his own.  So if your particular militia is looking for a full-time chaplain, and objects neither to differences of political opinion nor the occasional digression regarding punctuation, patristics or the Caped Crusader, then by all means drop us a line.