by Steve Golden —
Since March, each week we’ve witnessed astounding abuses of government power—with the media, big tech, and big corporations in lockstep—all done in the name of protecting us from an “invisible enemy.” COVID-19 has become the bogeyman driving every decision from mask mandates to bar operating hours. And yet the hypocrisy lacing most of these overreaching orders betrays their true intent—to push the nation into collectivism and groupthink.
Our government mandates that we wear masks because “masks save lives,” while simultaneously butchering millions of unborn babies every year. This is not about your health. Health officials and politicians have declared since mid-March that one death from COVID-19 is too many, while big tech is complicit with the government in censoring healthcare professionals who believe they have found an effective treatment in hydroxycholoroquine (HCQ). This is not about your health. Dr. Fauci leads the cry that we must practice evidence-based medicine, while data that challenges the narrative on masks, HCQ, children returning to school, or virtually every other mandate is summarily scrubbed from the internet and the authors smeared as history is revised before our eyes. This is not about your health.
Churches are forced to shut down or operate at severely reduced capacity in the name of public health, while casinos are permitted to remain open. Pastors and parishioners in California face misdemeanor citations, fines, and possible jail time for attending a Sunday morning worship service, while California churches can still offer social services, counseling, and overnight housing throughout the week. Personal residences are being targeted now too, to ensure that churches do not dissemble into house church gatherings. None of this is about your health.
As US health officials push restrictions that are either untested or were considered ineffective just 6 months ago because all the data is against them, other countries have abandoned universal masking and allow HCQ to be purchased over the counter. Closer to home, a top Kansas health official, with the governor’s blessing, used a doctored chart to push mask mandates on counties that rejected them. That same governor appears to be engaged in an intentional misinformation campaign, rejecting calls for transparency, claiming more power than she has, and ignoring the warnings of her attorney general as she pushes shutdowns and more arbitrary restrictions. She joins a nation of governors-turned-despots who have focused intensely on arresting citizens who attempt to reopen their businesses to provide for their families, while signing off on the release of criminals from prisons over COVID outbreak fears (leading in one case to the murder of an accuser by her rapist). Don’t believe for a second that this is about your health.
Tyranny Is Alive and Thriving
Make no mistake—this is tyranny. State and local government officials across the country ceased to have any empathy whatsoever for the plight of citizens whose livelihoods have been stolen by executive order. With every dishonest use of the data by the media to show “surging” COVID cases and death rates, power-hungry politicians see another opportunity to strip Americans of their rights and expand their own borders of control.
Medicine insofar as it concerns COVID-19 has ceased to be “evidence based”; it’s better called politically correct medicine. Those who took an oath to do no harm have by and large assented to refuse treatment to anyone not willing to mask up and shut up about hydroxychloroquine claims.
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve said that we’re being prepared for something, that this is a test case. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it sure looks like a lot of government officials and experts got the same memo. Never have I witnessed so many actors in such lockstep on an issue, cooperating to ensure that only one message gets out no matter how wrong the facts might be. This is the essence of groupthink—demand absolute agreement of thought, no matter how arbitrary the idea, and quash dissent by making it so uncomfortable to bring up opposing views that no one tries.
Groupthink readies us for collectivism of the Marxist variety, where the group’s need always outweigh the individual’s, to the detriment of the few, who are silenced, neglected, intimidated, and abused. (Other collectivist ideologies include those promoted by critical race theorists and the LGBT lobby.) It’s preparing us for the cultural Marxist revolution that’s been brewing in academia for decades and that hit the streets this summer with the protests and riots following George Floyd’s death.
The realities of groupthink were reinforced by a recent Cato Institute study showing 62% of Americans are afraid to share their political views. Much of this is driven by fear of workplace retaliation or even missing out on job opportunities because those views don’t fall in line with the politically correct narrative.
Just in terms of the pandemic alone, the political pressure to adopt the prevailing groupthink is affecting virtually every major institution, which trickles down into every citizens’ life. Many churches, especially large ones with well-known pastors, have responded to government restrictions by either turning into an arm of government enforcement or shutting down. (This only teaches less-than-honest government officials how easy it can be to control the Church.) Healthcare organizations are terminating staff who speak out about COVID-19 data suppression. Major corporations are instituting mask mandates in places where there are none and linking arms with the government in refusing service to anyone who is not “compliant” (a favorite word on company websites nowadays). You’re choosing not to be compliant? Then we’ll severely limit your social life, cut off your communion with other Christians, and end your access to healthcare.
What’s our recourse, when even the protectors of our rights (e.g., the Supreme Court) seem to have abandoned us? Most important, pray. Pray for our leaders, good or bad, that God would preserve the good ones and remove the bad ones, or change their hearts. Take the risks involved in speaking up, contacting local politicians, and attending protests. Write letters to the editor and letters to businesses that are refusing service to the “non-compliant.” Join acts of civil disobedience or support the churches and people who are civilly disobeying. Even as social media censors those who don’t agree with the narrative, it’s become a place to find organized protests to join. Expect consequences for your actions. Gaining our freedom wasn’t cheap or without consequence at America’s founding, and it won’t be easy to regain or preserve now. But it’s worth it if we can restore even a little justice and freedom in the country we love.
Applied Heart 
Leave a Reply