public:cb_mirror:which_is_worse_global_pandemic_or_global_tyranny_txt_blogposts_9947
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Which is worse: global pandemic or global tyranny?
Our battle demands constant vigilance and wisdom.
| State and federal governments are defining “non-essential” businesses in order to shut them down, ostensibly for our “safety.” Where did they get the arbitrary definition for non-essential that shuts down churches indefinitely but leaves abortion clinics open? Or closing a mom and pop business barely making ends meet, even as it leaves open obscure administrative offices? Why isn't the church being a light to the world in this time of fear and panic, instead of rolling over and literally handing the government our First Amendment rights? Why aren't the citizens rising up and defying their tyrannical overlords, instead of getting into a catfight in the toilet paper aisle? The Bill of Rights was written to remind government at the federal and state level that of all the enumerated powers they were given, these particular rights were a big hands off for any human-made government powers. They are not allowed to touch these rights. These rights were fought, bled, and died for in the Revolutionary War by men and women who knew the cost of allowing a tyrannical government of any kind to lull them into a sense of absolute trust. That willingness to give up our freedom for the supposed security of a nanny-state have destroyed human rights for centuries. The Founders pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to ensure that America would not become one of those destructive forces in the world. In the last 50 years, their descendants have spit on their sacrifices–not deliberately or defiantly–but because we gave up our vigilance in favor of peace and quiet. We've ignorantly handed over little bits and pieces of our God-given rights for decades. With each new crisis, we've lost our minds over the panic and fears and uncertainties. As with every other supposed doomsday proclamation, we've begged our government to save us, and they've gleefully obliged. Like sheep, we follow them over the cliffs of insanity, just grateful for each scrap of protection they offer. But oh, the cost of our treachery. Because you see, we're not betraying our government or some long-dead old men in powdered wigs. We're betraying ourselves, our posterity, and our God. It's no wonder very few sit up and take notice when a governor orders churches to close indefinitely and threatens them with fines. With the numbers coming down from on high and changing daily, it appears that the effects of the coronavirus itself will be a blip on our screen compared to the devastating effects our government is having on our God-given liberties. Before anyone freaks out, I am not saying that we should just pretend that a widespread virus won't have an impact on people's health. I'm not saying we shouldn't protect our vulnerable and immunocompromised population. It should go without saying that we use common sense and take care of our health, our loved ones, and our communities. As a human being, I have been given a mind to think, reason, and learn. I have been told by our Founders and God to question authorities (with respect and love of course) and not to blindly follow any one man or woman, because every human being is fallible. Governments of men are easily corruptible. I've sat in doctor's offices waiting for them to look at my sick child and tell me what to do. And I've watched the doctor glance at a chart of my child's general information, spend five minutes talking to me about treatment options and diagnoses, and then leave the room with a prescription signed and a “good luck to you.” Then I've gone home and searched for myself in medical books, natural healing websites, and more. And I end up cursing the $7,000.00 bill I get in the mail when my kid weathers the sickness and comes out stronger because I didn't listen to the doctor's well-meaning advice and instead followed my own gut instincts and research. Again, this is not a warning to dismiss all medical advice or never take a sick child to the doctor. This is a broken world, and sometimes sickness and death are the inevitable consequences of that brokenness. I'm not an optimist who sees nothing but rainbows and sunshine. What I am is a realist. And the reality of this latest crisis is that we've redefined the word crisis to encompass our panic-stricken, fear-driven desperate cries for a man-made government to give us answers so we can loudly praise them for their beneficence while we blindly hand over the rights we signed away on the dotted line. We skipped over the fine print and went straight to the signature page, just grateful to have someone else take care of our thinking for us in a temporary, transient situation that may have passed with hardly a blink of the eye in the annals of our history books. We've let numbers and ever-changing statistics and fear drive us toward the brink of handing over total control of our lives to a corrupt and ever-growing power that is just waiting to take its pound of flesh from the masses. And don't think it will stop at just a pound. That's not pessimism and doomsday prophecy. It's happening with each new crisis the government defines for us. Some may say that this is just temporary. As soon as the crisis has passed, it'll be business as usual. The government will ease up on restrictions and return our rights to us fully intact if a little worse for the wear. The ignorance of that logic is just mind-boggling. When has a government ever willingly handed back the liberties they stole from the people they govern? When has a government grown progressively smaller as its people have retained the rights they fought and bled for in its infancy? Even America has slowly but surely eroded its own constitutional principles, as We the People have surrendered ground through ignorance or apathy.  I'm a registered nurse. I got enough anatomy, physiology, biology, and other -ologies to understand viruses and their behavior in the human body. It doesn't make me an expert. I'm no Nobel prize winner for breakthroughs in virology or epidemiology. But I do use common sense every flu season and every time another novel virus makes its way through our community. Sometimes I get sick, and sometimes I don't. Sometimes we skip church because we're too busy sneezing and puking, and sometimes we ignore the minor sniffle in favor of worshipping with the body of Christ. Not once has a global pandemic scared me half so much as the thought of what would happen if our government used said pandemic to strip away the rights that God himself gave me. Not once has an economic crisis or the media's fear-mongering ever scared me into wanting to forget what happens when a government asks me to sell my soul under the guise of protecting me. In the middle of this latest crisis, I am reminded of how easy it is to lose our discernment, our long-term vision, and our ability to see that the battle isn't actually against a virus that may or may not be worse than the yearly flu. Our battle demands constant vigilance and wisdom to see the difference between a government using its enumerated powers for the general welfare of its people and a government salivating when its people willingly hand over their God-given rights, because they promise salvation from a temporary crisis. It's exhausting to fight this battle, because every time we drop our guard, we lose. Every one of the Founders knew how easy it is to give in to apathy. It's why they constantly preached on keeping our eyes open, our principles strong, and our vision ever reaching into the future, not just seeing the present. But isn't that the history of human existence? Constant vigilance, constant learning, changing, growing, and using our God-given minds to be the best, do the best, and live the best we can in a broken, fallen world? Every time we give up that that awareness, we lose. Why should it be any different when we are fighting against a growing tide of tyranny? This nation may last another thousand years. It may last only ten. There's only one kingdom that will last forever, and that one isn't man-made. The question is, do we want it to be a nation where freedom rings and the government is our tool to fight oppression for future generations? Or will we surrender liberty to fear, doubt, and desperation in our bid for temporary and highly questionable security? Viruses and economic crashes come and go, as each administration rises and falls. Perhaps we need a little more of an eternal perspective and a little less of the temporal, as we tackle the newest battle against our God-given liberty. |
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| Created: | 2020-03-30 20:31 GMT |
| Updated: | 2020-04-16 07:00 GMT |
| Published: | 2020-04-09 04:00 GMT |
| Converted: | 2025-11-11 11:56 GMT |
| Change Author: | Sarah Peloquin |
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