Showdown over Religious Freedom via COVID-19 Church Shutdowns

Demonstrations of average citizens, not DNC or Soros’ paid protestors, continue to express just how fed up citizens are of lockdowns that may have moved well past their purpose in many states and localities across America. Several “Democratic” governors are showing their true colors as they cannot resist exercising their executive power over hairdressers, ministers, and the regular people of faith. Prisoners are allowed to go free from prison; yet, the people of faith are prevented by law to leave their homes to go worship God. Several thousands of years ago, that same scenario played out between an all powerful Pharaoh and a simple shepherd named Moses.

Americans are witnessing firsthand the differences in leadership style

Americans are witnessing firsthand the differences in leadership style between several “Democratic” governors and Republican governors as they navigate the COVID-19 Pandemic. Americans are witnessing “Democratic” governors and other elected and unelected “Democratic” officials disregard, even trample, basic freedoms across America. This “Pharaoh phenomenon” is not limited to governors, but citizens see control freaks at every level of government. It means that elected officials and administrative appointees, do not really believe they are elected to serve the will of the people. The COVID-19 “pandemic,” defined rather narrowly, can be used as a “legitimate” way to absolutely control people under the legal authority via whatever administration inclined to put “shutdown” or “lockdown” orders in place. Most Americans, however, do not pay too much attention to the loss of freedoms that do not involve them very directly. Yet, fear is also a major deterrent to react to unconstitutional mandates from on high. Ironically, unless one is receptive to a liberating thought, and then acts upon that thought, that idea is never transformed into a substantial reality. And, the notion of whether anyone is receptive to a liberating thought is primarily dependent on the individual. If no one paid attention to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence, the U.S.A. would not have been born.

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Even if people can consume and digest liberating wisdom, the challenge is whether the receivers of such ideals can do something about them. If the founding generation had not accepted the ideals woven into the Declaration of Independence, America would not have been “conceived in liberty.” More importantly, if the founders had not had the courage to act upon such ideals in the Declaration of Independence, the nation would not have been born. America could have been aborted by fear. And, the founding generation had much to fear. The Continental Congress was deliberating their collective colonial destiny at the same time Britain was launching their largest deployment of troops to control a colony in their history to that point. Yet the founding fathers voted to declare independence. Those brilliant and very brave men accepted the ideals of the Declaration of Independence, and overcame their fears, and acted upon their faith. They had the courage to be willing to die for what they believed in. And, many did die -- for what they believed in. In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 “pandemic,” we know many people are dying, and that is truly tragic. As President Trump has said, one life is too many. But, the deeper question may be: is our Republic in danger of dying? Americans are now at this point in history, and again face the reality that the Hebrews faced as they witnessed the struggle between Moses and the mighty Pharaoh. Americans again face the same concerns confronting the Pilgrim fathers as they were the victims of the Anglican church with the weight of the British government behind it.

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Big brother has arrested and jailed hairdressers for simply trying to survive amidst the shutdown rules for “non-essential” businesses

Yet, for American citizens there is nowhere left to run. America is the last bastion of principled freedom of any type. There can be no Exodus from Egypt, nor an escape from England. American citizens have enjoyed several privileges of growing up in a land of plenty, within the land of the Free. But in 2020, American citizens need to make a decision as to whether they still hold those truths to be self evident, or whether those truths are no longer relevant. In 2020, big brother has arrested and jailed hairdressers for simply trying to survive amidst the shutdown rules for “non-essential” businesses. Yet, more importantly, in some localities, Christian ministers have been arrested for defying the government shutdown mandates, which restrict the freedom of worship. The logic, which is not truly logic, does not align with the Bill of Rights. While much of the lockdown mandates seem logical and reasonable, those mandates that violate the First Amendment freedoms are practically ignored. This should not be tolerated in the Land of the Free. When ministers are being arrested and congregants are fined for gathering in parking lots in their cars, despite the MSM, it is being witnessed by those who still value religious freedom and the freedom to worship. This gets back to Moses and the Pharoah. It also gets back to why the Pilgrims fled to the New World: ministers were being arrested and congregations were living in fear because of what they believed. The Pilgrims were really Separatists who did not align well with the Church of England. We seem to have come full circle in 400 years!

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Christian ministers have been arrested for defying the government shutdown mandates

Those Separatists had such faith that they pursued their freedom to worship even at the risk pf their “fortunes,” their familiar lives in England (comfort zones), and their survival (their very lives). They left their customary surroundings to go off into unknown territory - risking their very lives. In short, they did what patriot Patrick Henry proclaimed in 1775: “Give me liberty,or give me death!” Their pursuit of freedom in those days was more than an intellectual perception or acknowledgement of the egregious violations of religious liberty. Patrick Henry and the brilliant and brave men of the founding generation not only shouted their faith, like the Separatists, they acted upon it. Henry’s very volatile speech voiced sentiments that inspired the revolutionary generation. Inside St. John's Episcopal Church in Richmond, Virginia on March 23, 1775, the delegates to the Second Second Virginia Convention were moved to action by Henry’s words: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me Liberty or give me death!”