Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.1
—Patrick Henry—
Key point: A national crisis is an open door making it possible for leaders to abuse their power and emerge as tyrants, even despots. We must resist encroachment on American citizens’ rights and liberties, before it is too late.
On Monday, March 30, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam issued an executive order (Number Fifty-Five) requiring Virginians to “remain at their place of residence, except as provided below by this Order and Executive Order 53.” An article in the Hampton-area newspaper Daily Press explains,
According to Northam’s order, all Virginians must remain in their homes, except for a few activities, until June 10, more than 10 weeks away. The order prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people and closes the commonwealth’s beaches to everyone besides those fishing and exercising.
There are a variety of reasons why you can leave home, including doing things like grocery shopping, seeking medical attention, exercising or getting to workplaces deemed essential.
In announcing the order, the governor declared, “I want to be clear: Do not go out unless you need to go out. This is very different than wanting to go out.”
If social distancing is the goal, then the governor’s order isn’t helping. Actually, it’s hurting. “Even more people” are “flocking” to grocery stores to stock up on food and supplies “for their extended time at home.” The Reid Super-Save Market in Charlottesville, for example, was “packed with people.”
Note carefully how long the order is set to be in effect. June 10 is ten weeks and two days out from March 30, the day the order was announced.
Other states have set shorter deadlines for their stay at home orders to expire, although they can always be extended at the governor’s discretion. New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday extended his “New York at Pause” deadline until just April 15, although the state has the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the country by far.
Northam’s stay at home order for Virginia requires all state residents to remain in their homes except for specific essential activities. These include obtaining food and beverages, seeking medical care, taking care of family or animals, visiting family members, exercising in compliance with social distancing guidelines and traveling to a place of worship, work or education.
The executive order also bans any gatherings of more than 10 people, including parties and religious services. Additionally, all universities are required to suspend in-person classes, and all public beaches will be closed, except for fishing and exercise, so long as social distancing is maintained.
One has a right to wonder if Governor Northam wants to provoke hostility so he can have an excuse to crush dissenters with an iron fist. Leaders who respect the rights of the people do not behave as he is behaving.
One has a right to wonder if Governor Northam wants to provoke hostility so he can have an excuse to crush dissenters with an iron fist.
This is the same Governor Ralph Northam who supports abortion all the way up to and during the moment of birth. This means he essentially supports infanticide. Also, this is the same state executive who opposes the right of clients with unwanted same-sex attraction from getting counseling that might help them achieve what they desire. And with regard to Second Amendment rights, this is the same governor who has threatened “consequences” for Second Amendment sanctuaries in his state that resist gun control. Is it any wonder that Governor Northam would trample on other unalienable rights when given the chance?
Interestingly, on March 31, Rush Limbaugh pointed out on his radio show that the Republican primary in Virginia is June 9. So, Governor Northam has set his EO to expire one day after the Republican primary. Folks, this isn’t a coincidence.
A Dangerous Road
I am not saying the coronavirus pandemic is not serious; nor am I saying we should not take precautions. Nor am I saying government has no roll to play.
I am saying that increasingly, governments, both local and state, are abusing their authority. Governor Northam can adjust his executive order [EO] and bring it to an end earlier than June 10, but if he does, he would be basically admitting he was wrong about the date when he issued the order in the first place. This is an incentive for him not to adjust the date. Moreover, the toll of setting the date on June 10 will be enormous! Virginia is seeing this already with residents flooding supermarkets. But that isn’t the worst of it. Spending too mush time inside actually can be detrimental to people’s health, even compromising their immune systems.
“The body needs sufficient amounts of sunlight to make vitamin D,” says [Dr.] Okeke-Igbokwe. If you’re indoors too much, you might become vitamin D deficient, and vitamin D is a key nutrient in helping to build a strong immune system. This can increase your chances of catching infections, and make it more difficult to fight off disease.
There’s something else. The toll on people’s mental health also will be great. It doesn’t take a PhD to see that between now and June 10, someone—perhaps many people—will snap.
Someone—perhaps many people—will snap.
Goodbye Liberty?
In an article published March 31, Daniel Horowitz warns,
We’ve simply never done this before in our history.…Quarantine laws traditionally separate an individual or an entire group of people from the general population. What we are doing now, however, is locking down the entire general population.
Whether they use the term or not, governors are ordering nothing short of martial law, shutting down nearly all businesses and churches to the point that there will be no public services for Easter and Passover under any circumstance, and unemployment will surpass the levels of the Great Depression. Yes, there are times when that might be necessary, but the question should require a debate, transparency, time limits, and the production of more evidence about the value of these additional measures, which will undoubtedly grow legs in the coming days.
This, folks, is how tyranny begins. Horowitz also says this:
Remember, these governors are just getting warmed up. We’re only two weeks into this phase. At this pace, if we don’t rise up and demand answers, there is no limit to what these politicians might do with their divine right of kings. It’s appalling that Congress and state legislatures are in recess indefinitely, as random executives – from governors and mayors to county supervisors and sheriffs – rule the nation by fiat. It’s time for some real debate and accountability with public input and hearings (remotely, if needed).
It’s appalling that Congress and state legislatures are in recess indefinitely, as random executives – from governors and mayors to county supervisors and sheriffs – rule the nation by fiat.
—Daniel Horowitz—
All of us are willing to sacrifice for public safety – a lot. But there are limits, and there are serious questions about whether those sacrifices are even helping, or in some instances, downright hurting. Either way, we will never recover from this devastating blow to liberty.
It is time for Americans to rediscover what our Founders so keenly understood.
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- Patrick Henry emphasized, “It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains. A vitiated state of morals, a corrupted public conscience, is incompatible with freedom. No free government, or the blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people but by a firm adherence to justice, moderation, temperance, frugality, and virtue; and by a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”
- James Madison said, “We are right to take alarm at the first experiment upon our liberties.”
- Thomas Jefferson observed, “Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.”
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Significantly, all three of these early patriots were from Virginia—so their statements demonstrate how far the state (at least in terms of its current leadership) has moved away from its early ideals.
It is a wonderful thing that such ideals were widespread during the founding era. Benjamin Franklin was from Pennsylvania. Here was his design for the Great Seal of the United States. It depicts Moses leading the Israelites through the Red Sea as the Egyptians chased them. Printed on the proposed seal is this statement:
REBELLION TO TYRANTS IS OBEDIENCE TO GOD.
These are the principles we must rediscover and reimplement if liberty is going to be preserved in our country.
We must push back!
May the Lord help us to recognize and resist tyranny whenever and wherever we see it—even when it occurs in our own elected leaders. The key guide for Christians in doing this is Scripture and what it tells us about government and our duty as citizens.
We’ll begin to explore that important issue next time. Stay tuned!
Copyright © 2020 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
Watch Virginia attorney Tim Anderson describe the disconnect between the activity that is allowed at “essential” retail outlets and those that are prohibited at churches.
Watch Mr. Anderson describe the legal landscape in the wake of Executive Order 55.
Note:
1Force does not have to be violent, but it cannot be indecisive, either.
top image credit: a scene from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia
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