As government attempts to exalt itself above the Most High, more and more of what used to be called paranoia is now becoming our new normal.
Some recent examples include:
After the government declares we are no longer a Christian nation, it decides to take our kids on field trips to mosques where they can receive a copy of the Koran (after the Bible was removed from our schools first of course).
As the government now decides what morality is, the Air Force is targeting enlistees in its ranks that believe homosexuality is immoral, even if they’re still willing to serve capably under the command of out-and-proud homosexuals.
Playing the role of judge, jury, and executioner, Capitol Police shot an unarmed dental hygienist to death in her vehicle while it was stuck at a medium following a high-speed chase. Her 1-year old baby was in the car with her at the time.
There’s plenty more where that came from, and more examples of government run amok are happening each day. Yet perhaps the most disturbing, yet subtle, examples are occurring as we speak during the so-called “government shutdown.”
Now I’m not sure how something still running at 83% capacity can be in a “shutdown.” Only in Washington, D.C. could a 17% loss of way too much government to begin with be described as a “shutdown.” But while this “shutdown” isn’t producing the welfare state victimology stories the liberal media was hoping for beforehand, it is producing the kind of stories that set the stage for tyranny.
Something vital has been lost in the kerfuffle about barricading veterans from their own war memorials that were left unattended prior to the “shutdown,” removing veterans from their own war memorials that were left unattended prior to the “shutdown,” and now veterans getting arrested for failing to leave their own war memorials that were left unattended prior to the “shutdown.”
While the focus remains on whether or not these are ham-fisted attempts by the White House to make this phony “shutdown” hurt, we have overlooked the fact that the only way these ridiculous examples of government overreach happen is if someone is willing to implement them on government’s behalf.
In other words, there have to be cops, park rangers, and the like willing to say they’re “just following orders” from government regardless of whether or not those orders from government violate the Constitution.
Further signifying the rise of Statism in America, there clearly – and sadly – are.
Statism is the belief the ultimate power over thought, commerce, and conscience (individually and/or corporately) resides in consent from the state alone. Statism says it is government in whom we live and breathe.
Our Constitution begs to differ.
Our Constitution’s intent is to reign in government in order to protect our rights that come from God alone, which He has revealed in nature. Government does not have the right to disrupt peaceable assembly, nor the freedom of speech, nor the freedom of religion because those rights predate government. We were created with them in mind.
Our Constitution includes a scheme of checks and balances for when federal government schemes to impose on those God-given rights. It compels the lesser magistrate to interpose on our behalf since the Constitution that protects your God-given rights is a higher authority than the federal government itself.
The whole point of our Constitution is to maintain the proper chain of command from God, to the will of the people, to a government only by the consent of the governed. Historically government has always sought to assert its own divine right to rule over the will of the people if not God Himself. Thus, our Constitution isn’t just a system of checks and balances to ensure that doesn’t happen here, it’s a check and balance against government unto itself.
Therefore, there shouldn’t have been a cop or park ranger in America that agreed to implement such anti-liberty actions from government. Instead of “just following orders” they should’ve “just followed the Constitution.”
Let me be very blunt about what that means.
A park ranger that is told he has to barricade veterans from war memorials that are almost always unattended to begin with should refuse. A cop who is told he has to arrest veterans from a war memorial that is almost always unattended to begin with should refuse. A Capitol Policeman who is told to shoot to death an unarmed woman who is at a dead stop with a 1-year old baby in tow should refuse.
Yes, you may lose your job and suffer the consequences for not following unjust orders. But this is a country founded by men who “pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors” rather than follow unjust laws. Had our Founding Fathers behaved like these park rangers and cops “just following orders” we’d all either still be British subjects or speaking Arabic by now.
These park rangers and cops don’t serve government. They serve us. They aren’t employed by government. They’re employed by us. Sadly, more and more they appear to be acting as government agents and not public servants.
Unfortunately, too often in recent times we have voluntarily surrendered our God-given rights to government and turned the Constitution on its ear. Government now controls how our children are educated, not the parents. Government now determines when life begins, not the Author of all life. Government now decides what is a marriage, not the One who created the institution in the first place. Government now picks winners and losers in the marketplace, not the free market itself.
If we have arrived at the day when park rangers and cops are willing to barricade and arrest veterans attempting to access the freedoms they risked their lives for on our behalf, then that is a very scary day indeed.
It’s also a sign that even scarier days may be on the horizon. A day when a government agent disguised as a public servant shows up at your door demanding your guns and your children because he, too, is “just following orders.”
If you don’t think that can happen here, think again. It already did. That’s why we had a revolution in the first place.