Liberty or Safety?
By Dr. David Reagan
A friend of mine recently sent me a text message that contained a profound insight. It read, “The response of the American people to the pandemic has proved that they are so fearful of death that they are willing to stop living.”
It was very similar to a comment I had read the day before in an article by the nationally syndicated columnist and ordained minister, Mychal Massie. He lamented the way in which the American people had so quickly “surrendered essential liberties in exchange for a little temporary safety.” He observed, “The fact that we’re all going to die escaped the masses out of a fear that they’re going to die.”
It’s amazing how willing we are to surrender our fundamental freedoms in the face of a crisis.
Fortunately, we here at Lamb & Lion Ministries did not have to face this challenge because our headquarters is located in a rural area on five acres of land that was given to us in 1983 by one of our trustees. Although our mailing address is McKinney, Texas, we are actually located seven miles east of McKinney in an unincorporated area.
We are blessed to have a county judge who is endowed with common sense and an attitude of respect for civil liberties. He refused to issue a stay-at-home order, and he refused to command businesses to close. Instead, he simply asked people to play it safe through social-distancing, hand washing and the use of face masks, where appropriate.
It was the mayors within the county who issued draconian orders for people to stay home and for businesses to close.
Since we are not located within any city limits, only the county judge’s broad guidelines applied to us. We continued, therefore, to operate as usual, except that we have practiced social-distancing, and we regularly disinfect door handles, light switches and common surfaces. One of our staff members with underlying health issues and another with a new baby decided it would be best for them to work from home, and we have allowed that. But otherwise, we have continued to come to work each day, and we have continued all our normal activities.
I’m thankful that we did not have to violate any orders that applied to us because, otherwise, I would have done so because no one was going to tell me that our operation was “non-essential.” We may be considered irrelevant from a pagan or secular viewpoint — as was the case in many areas of our nation — but from a spiritual viewpoint, I consider our operation to be absolutely essential. Furthermore, the Bill of Rights is not a list of recommendations.
In response to the pandemic, we immediately geared up to provide special services to help people deal with the pandemic. We published a special edition of our Lamplighter magazine to help people understand the pandemic from a spiritual viewpoint. We prepared a special “Christ in Prophecy” TV program designed to do the same. And we started producing brief daily videos called Prophetic Perspectives for our website that were designed to give people hope.
I was appalled at how quickly people were willing to surrender their basic freedoms of movement, assembly and employment. And the worst is yet to come because I believe the cure is going to prove to be worse than the virus. That’s because we have destroyed our economy, and we have quickly accumulated an overwhelming debt. What freedoms will Americans be willing to surrender in order to get food on their tables?
I can guarantee you that there are tyrants waiting in the wings, licking their chops, ready to pounce and offer “security” in return for allegiance.