COVID-19: It's Constitutional Costs
We continue to live in very interesting and, at times, very disturbing times. We have been invaded by an invisible enemy as President Trump has proclaimed the COVID-19 virus to be. And this invisible enemy has found its way not only into our physical bodies but into the very fabric of our society. Yes, tens of thousands of people have died, while millions of others have been infected. The toll upon our nation's physical well-being has been difficult. But, then again, our nation's physical well-being has been attacked almost constantly. Every year tens of thousands of Americans die from the common flu. Every year tens of thousands of Americans die of drug overdoses or alcoholism. Every year tens of thousands of Americans die from heart disease and cancer. And every year tens of thousands of Americans die violently at the hands of someone else. Yet, we have become insensitive to cancer, heart disease, automobile crashes and flu. It is almost as if those diseases and events have been accepted as part of life. But, then along comes this new COVID-19 virus and it is as if a national panic ensued. Perhaps it is because scientists did not understand it at first. We certainly are learning more about it right now. And while it is still a dangerous virus, we are learning that it is not as deadly as was once feared.
But, in some strange way, unlike anything else our nation has ever experienced, this virus destroyed the very fabric of who we are. We have surrendered to this virus our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of assembly, of speech, and of religious expression. In recent weeks we have witnessed one You Tube video after another being taken down because the content was not acceptable to the authorities at You Tube. Churches have been ordered not to hold services - not requested, but ordered. Families have been instructed not to have contact with other families, yet many have in defiance of those instructions, often meeting secretly in secluded places. Friends, only rarely should a government demand the surrender of constitutional rights from its people.
I receive a very interesting publication every other month titled, "Imprimis." It is published by Hillsdale College, located in Hillsdale, Michigan. In the past issue, Dr. Larry Arnn, President of the College, wrote an article entitled, "Thoughts on the Current Crisis." Dr. Arnn has spent years studying the life of Winston Churchill, perhaps one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. Allow me to quote from Dr. Arnn's article: "Winston Churchill wrote grave warnings in 1936, as Hitler consolidated his power. His calls for rearmament were not sufficiently heeded to prevent the worst war in history. He warned that heavy sacrifices were necessary and justified to prevent Hitler from dominating the world. Amidst these warnings, in that same year, he took time to sound a different note in an essay entitled, 'What Good's a Constitution?': '[W]e must not be led into adopting for ourselves the evils of war in time of peace upon any pretext whatever. The word "civilization" means not only peace by the non-regimentation of the people such as is required in war. Civilization means that officials and authorities, whether uniformed or not, whether armed or not, are made to realize that they are servants and not masters. Socialism or overweening State life, whether in peace or war, is only sharing miseries and not blessings. Every self-respecting citizen in every country must be on his guard lest the rulers demand of him in time of peace sacrifices only tolerable in a period of war for national self-preservation.'
"The sacrifices that are demanded of Americans today may be necessary, but they must never become customary. The purpose of our government is to keep us alive, yes, but also to keep us living and working, as is our right. Going forward, our best leaders will eschew political gamesmanship and work to control our borders, fix our public health agencies, and end our dependence on China and other foreign countries for goods that are essential to our national health and security. We must prepare ourselves to face the next pandemic without surrendering our way of life." (Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.)
Friends, as one looks over the pages of history, whenever a government begins to demand the surrender of personal liberties and freedoms, that same government is very reticent to return those liberties and freedoms. I fear we may be at that point. I find it very interesting that our government is so insistent on "the separation of church and state" in all other matters, except for the COVID-19 virus. Suddenly, there can be government interference. Businesses being told what they can and cannot do! The answer given is that "every life is important." Coming from our governmental leaders that is about as two-faced as can be. Everyday, since this virus pandemic began, babies have been aborted as the abortion industry was deemed an essential business. Why don't our leaders just admit, "Every life is important, except for the life of the unborn." And now I read this morning about "contact squads" being hired to keep track of people's comings and goings. This is an invasion of the constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy. Seriously, when I read that article I was reminded of the Gestapo during World War II whose sole purpose was to spy on and track people.
Will we as Americans make it through this pandemic and governmental over-reach? Yes we will because we have done so in the past. But what has been the cost? What have we given up that will never be fully recovered? How will historians look back upon this time? These are the questions that I wrestle with.
But, in some strange way, unlike anything else our nation has ever experienced, this virus destroyed the very fabric of who we are. We have surrendered to this virus our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of assembly, of speech, and of religious expression. In recent weeks we have witnessed one You Tube video after another being taken down because the content was not acceptable to the authorities at You Tube. Churches have been ordered not to hold services - not requested, but ordered. Families have been instructed not to have contact with other families, yet many have in defiance of those instructions, often meeting secretly in secluded places. Friends, only rarely should a government demand the surrender of constitutional rights from its people.
I receive a very interesting publication every other month titled, "Imprimis." It is published by Hillsdale College, located in Hillsdale, Michigan. In the past issue, Dr. Larry Arnn, President of the College, wrote an article entitled, "Thoughts on the Current Crisis." Dr. Arnn has spent years studying the life of Winston Churchill, perhaps one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. Allow me to quote from Dr. Arnn's article: "Winston Churchill wrote grave warnings in 1936, as Hitler consolidated his power. His calls for rearmament were not sufficiently heeded to prevent the worst war in history. He warned that heavy sacrifices were necessary and justified to prevent Hitler from dominating the world. Amidst these warnings, in that same year, he took time to sound a different note in an essay entitled, 'What Good's a Constitution?': '[W]e must not be led into adopting for ourselves the evils of war in time of peace upon any pretext whatever. The word "civilization" means not only peace by the non-regimentation of the people such as is required in war. Civilization means that officials and authorities, whether uniformed or not, whether armed or not, are made to realize that they are servants and not masters. Socialism or overweening State life, whether in peace or war, is only sharing miseries and not blessings. Every self-respecting citizen in every country must be on his guard lest the rulers demand of him in time of peace sacrifices only tolerable in a period of war for national self-preservation.'
"The sacrifices that are demanded of Americans today may be necessary, but they must never become customary. The purpose of our government is to keep us alive, yes, but also to keep us living and working, as is our right. Going forward, our best leaders will eschew political gamesmanship and work to control our borders, fix our public health agencies, and end our dependence on China and other foreign countries for goods that are essential to our national health and security. We must prepare ourselves to face the next pandemic without surrendering our way of life." (Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College.)
Friends, as one looks over the pages of history, whenever a government begins to demand the surrender of personal liberties and freedoms, that same government is very reticent to return those liberties and freedoms. I fear we may be at that point. I find it very interesting that our government is so insistent on "the separation of church and state" in all other matters, except for the COVID-19 virus. Suddenly, there can be government interference. Businesses being told what they can and cannot do! The answer given is that "every life is important." Coming from our governmental leaders that is about as two-faced as can be. Everyday, since this virus pandemic began, babies have been aborted as the abortion industry was deemed an essential business. Why don't our leaders just admit, "Every life is important, except for the life of the unborn." And now I read this morning about "contact squads" being hired to keep track of people's comings and goings. This is an invasion of the constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy. Seriously, when I read that article I was reminded of the Gestapo during World War II whose sole purpose was to spy on and track people.
Will we as Americans make it through this pandemic and governmental over-reach? Yes we will because we have done so in the past. But what has been the cost? What have we given up that will never be fully recovered? How will historians look back upon this time? These are the questions that I wrestle with.
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