To the editor:
Once upon a time, the United States had a Constitution. It included 10 amendments called the Bill of Rights, which delineated the rights and liberties of the people and the limits of federal and state power. The majority of the citizens held this document in great esteem and respect and took it very seriously. Every and all military personnel and public officials took an oath to uphold and defend it.
But now, it is discovered that this thing is hundreds of years old and getting a little tired, worn and outdated, so our “betters” tell us. Also it has been revealed that it maybe was written by some old privileged white guys who were actually slave owners (OMG)! We now are told we must be a whole lot smarter, enlightened and “progressive” in our thinking; we shouldn’t get too “hung up” on its silly old language or take it too literally. At best, it should be considered — if we ever do consider it — some sort of “guideline,” or advisory at best, from another age, and not applicable to the governmental conduct and actions of a modern today. Don’t feel alone; there are four, maybe five, Supreme Court justices who believe this!
And now, with the country in the grips of a hysterical panic (super-fueled by a fanatically deceitful media and smug, self-serving medical bureaucracy) over a mystifying virus recently delivered from China, guess what’s happening in Indiana! Our beloved Governor Eric Holcomb bursts into our lives! Eric must have gotten all worked up watching TV and the excitement in New York and their big-time governor who rants and raves that everybody is getting sick and going to die if he doesn’t get more an even more federal help. Eric, inspired to show he’s also a big-time-type guy, lurches forward mindlessly decreeing: lockdowns, shuttered businesses, proscribed assembly (including auto races and churches), wearing of a veils (masks) etc. for all hands! None of that First Amendment foolishness here in Eric’s Hoosierland. Oops, then a little “commotion” (rioting) in Indy, but NO action by Eric. After all, the these “demonstrations” were for a liberally-approved cause, racial justice, right?! A little broken glass and some “midnight shopping,” the number of shootings were well within established acceptable Indianapolis parameters! Hey, they were wearing masks, weren’t they (socially responsible as always)!
But of all Eric’s antics and crypto-fascism, nothing is more egregious, I mean really, really bad, than his viscous and unprecedented assault on the “free expression of religion,” previously one of our most cherished freedoms. Churches locked down! Unbelievable! Nothing like this short of martial law ever happened in Indiana. As outrageous and inexplicable as all this may be, it is dwarfed by the response or nonresponse of the so-called “Christian community.” Not even a peep of righteous indignation, not a murmur! For a religion that celebrates and venerates its martyrs who suffered and died for the faith, modern nominal Christians’ timidity, or might one say cowardice, in the face of the denial of their right to public worship and the forced shutdown of their houses of worship is utterly remarkable. Where is the outrage, or are they, like so many who shiver in fear, lock themselves indoors, turn out the lights and hide under the covers, hoping it will just all go away?
The “reopening phases,” confusing and frustrating and without any firm dates, make meaningful planning next to impossible. Will we ever be officially “freed” by Eric “the Great Emancipator”? But rest assured, you can count on more “positive” tests, sickness, and yes, even more death; at this juncture, there is no known way to eradicate or kill the virus itself. It’s reality, folks. Just “caring” is futility personified and won’t make the bogeyman go away! The virus will run its course on its own time, not ours. (Remember 1918/19 Spanish Flu?) But some of us, maybe a whole lot, will be left alive, but freedoms and liberty relinquished to the government in haste and “emergencies” are never recovered!
Be brave and steadfast, walk around outside, imagining living a life without fear of Codiv-19 or an overreaching government. What we can and must do now is to put a full “STOP “on Eric Holcomb and his deliberate destruction of our Constitution and the rights it guarantees, right now, right here!
JL Kipp, Gnaw Bone
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