Are We Citizens or Subjects?

As I have watched the news, especially since President Biden was sworn into office, I can’t help but ask myself, are we citizens of this great country or are we subjects of the progressive movement?

During his first few days in office, President Biden issued forty-two edicts on the citizens in the form of Executive Orders, something he said he would not do.  During a town hall with George Stephanopoulos, then candidate Biden said there are certain “things you can’t do by Executive Order unless you’re a dictator.” During that exchange about how quickly he’d raise taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans if elected president, George Stephanopoulos asked, “So, there’s not going to be any delay on the tax increases?”  Biden responded, “No, well, I’ve got to get the votes, I got to get the votes. That’s why — you know, the one thing that I — I have this strange notion. We are a democracy. Some of my Republican friends and some of my Democratic friends even occasionally say, ‘Well, if you can’t get the votes by Executive Order, you’re going to do something.’ Things you can’t do by Executive Order unless you’re a dictator. We’re a democracy. We need consensus.” Then immediately after taking office Biden began to act like a dictator by signing forty-two Executive Orders.

As I review the liberties that have been suspended during this pandemic, I can’t help but think of how other countries have lost their liberties after being taken over by a tyrannical regime.  Nazi Germany and Venezuela come to mind.  My biggest worry is the loss of freedom of religion, speech, the press and assembly as well as our right to keep and bear arms. Those are the first rights to be banned when a country is taken over by a hostile government.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he stated that he named our Creator as the one who granted our rights because by doing so no man could take them away. However, today people from every religious sect feel threatened with many of the past and recent Supreme Court decisions on religion.  Especially when upholding the right of government to suspend our right to worship in church during Covid.

We know what our founding fathers have said about the importance of freedom of religion. It’s the first thing mentioned in the first amendment. The language is very clear, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therof.”

I have been reading the book “The Scourge of the Swastika, A History of Nazi War Crimes During World War II,” by Lord Russell of Liverpool. He describes what Hitler and his henchmen did to gain control of Germany after Hitler was elected Chancellor in 1933.  They began to change Germany into a completely different country.  They encouraged and fostered racial hatred.  They set brother against brother, children against parents, Gentile against Jew. They attempted to corrupt the whole nation and those who refused to go along with their evil plan were thrown into concentration camps. They suppressed free speech and freedom of the press. They controlled the judiciary, they confiscated property, they restricted the right to peaceful assembly, they censored letters and telegrams, they monitored telephone conversations, they regimented labor, and they denied religious freedom.

I see many parallels in today’s America. We were all prohibited from going to church for months in the name of keeping us safe from Covid. The president and governors usurped our rights, through “emergency powers,” claiming it was necessary to keep us safe. It was neither safe nor constitutional. By default, because we all complied, these politicians now have the power to suspend our rights during any perceived national or state emergency.

The Left is also suppressing free speech through social media. It was recently reported that Donald Trump has been banned from Facebook for two years.  Yes, the government didn’t do it, but I would argue that social media is an arm of the Progressive movement. This kind of censorship, government or otherwise, would not have been tolerated in the America we grew up in. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. It reinforces all other human rights, allowing society to develop and progress. The ability to express one’s opinion and speak freely is essential in bringing about change in society.

When I was a young boy and someone called us a name we would repeat “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  Today you can be punished in a myriadof ways if you hurt someone’s feeling or say something they do not agree with.  There are free speech zones on college campuses, you can be put in “Facebook jail,” banned from Twitter and even sued for the slightest offence. You can even be charged with a hate crime if you say something to the wrong person.

Today we have cameras on street corners watching our every move.  The NSA can and does monitor our cell phone conversations, in an effort they say, to prevent terrorist attacks. They are attempting to stifle our right to peacefully assemble by keeping the “Capitol Hill rioters” in jail without bail even while refusing to arrest members of BLM and Antifa during the rioting last summer. I could name other instances of our liberties being curtailed but I have not the space here to do so.

It is past time for all patriots, all lovers of freedom, all concerned citizens to rise up and tell your elected representative that you are fed up with a small portion of America dictating what happens here. We must become a squeaky wheel, a loud voice when it comes to protecting our rights, our liberty and our way of life.

As I have watched the news, especially since President Biden was sworn into office, I can’t help but ask myself, are we citizens of this great country or are we subjects of the progressive movement?

During his first few days in office, President Biden issued forty-two edicts on the citizens in the form of Executive Orders, something he said he would not do.  During a town hall with George Stephanopoulos, then candidate Biden said there are certain “things you can’t do by Executive Order unless you’re a dictator.” During that exchange about how quickly he’d raise taxes on corporations and wealthy Americans if elected president, George Stephanopoulos asked, “So, there’s not going to be any delay on the tax increases?”  Biden responded, “No, well, I’ve got to get the votes, I got to get the votes. That’s why — you know, the one thing that I — I have this strange notion. We are a democracy. Some of my Republican friends and some of my Democratic friends even occasionally say, ‘Well, if you can’t get the votes by Executive Order, you’re going to do something.’ Things you can’t do by Executive Order unless you’re a dictator. We’re a democracy. We need consensus.” Then immediately after taking office Biden began to act like a dictator by signing forty-two Executive Orders.

As I review the liberties that have been suspended during this pandemic, I can’t help but think of how other countries have lost their liberties after being taken over by a tyrannical regime.  Nazi Germany and Venezuela come to mind.  My biggest worry is the loss of freedom of religion, speech, the press and assembly as well as our right to keep and bear arms. Those are the first rights to be banned when a country is taken over by a hostile government.

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, he stated that he named our Creator as the one who granted our rights because by doing so no man could take them away. However, today people from every religious sect feel threatened with many of the past and recent Supreme Court decisions on religion.  Especially when upholding the right of government to suspend our right to worship in church during Covid.

We know what our founding fathers have said about the importance of freedom of religion. It’s the first thing mentioned in the first amendment. The language is very clear, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise therof.”

I have been reading the book “The Scourge of the Swastika, A History of Nazi War Crimes During World War II,” by Lord Russell of Liverpool. He describes what Hitler and his henchmen did to gain control of Germany after Hitler was elected Chancellor in 1933.  They began to change Germany into a completely different country.  They encouraged and fostered racial hatred.  They set brother against brother, children against parents, Gentile against Jew. They attempted to corrupt the whole nation and those who refused to go along with their evil plan were thrown into concentration camps. They suppressed free speech and freedom of the press. They controlled the judiciary, they confiscated property, they restricted the right to peaceful assembly, they censored letters and telegrams, they monitored telephone conversations, they regimented labor, and they denied religious freedom.

I see many parallels in today’s America. We were all prohibited from going to church for months in the name of keeping us safe from Covid. The president and governors usurped our rights, through “emergency powers,” claiming it was necessary to keep us safe. It was neither safe nor constitutional. By default, because we all complied, these politicians now have the power to suspend our rights during any perceived national or state emergency.

The Left is also suppressing free speech through social media. It was recently reported that Donald Trump has been banned from Facebook for two years.  Yes, the government didn’t do it, but I would argue that social media is an arm of the Progressive movement. This kind of censorship, government or otherwise, would not have been tolerated in the America we grew up in. Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right. It reinforces all other human rights, allowing society to develop and progress. The ability to express one’s opinion and speak freely is essential in bringing about change in society.

When I was a young boy and someone called us a name we would repeat “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”  Today you can be punished in a myriadof ways if you hurt someone’s feeling or say something they do not agree with.  There are free speech zones on college campuses, you can be put in “Facebook jail,” banned from Twitter and even sued for the slightest offence. You can even be charged with a hate crime if you say something to the wrong person.

Today we have cameras on street corners watching our every move.  The NSA can and does monitor our cell phone conversations, in an effort they say, to prevent terrorist attacks. They are attempting to stifle our right to peacefully assemble by keeping the “Capitol Hill rioters” in jail without bail even while refusing to arrest members of BLM and Antifa during the rioting last summer. I could name other instances of our liberties being curtailed but I have not the space here to do so.

It is past time for all patriots, all lovers of freedom, all concerned citizens to rise up and tell your elected representative that you are fed up with a small portion of America dictating what happens here. We must become a squeaky wheel, a loud voice when it comes to protecting our rights, our liberty and our way of life.