‘Give Me Liberty, Or Give Me Death’

We all must stand against the new tyranny:

One need not be from the US to be familiar with the quote found in my title. For those wanting more detail, it is attributed to the American Founding Father Patrick Henry from a speech he had made to the Second Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775.

Those stirring words were important back then, and perhaps even more so today. The need to speak up and work for freedom is always with us, because those who would steal it away from us are always with us as well. As such I have often spoken out on such matters, and I have been to many protests and marches over the years.

Back in my radical hippy days I took part in some of these. And today I still do, including the annual right to life marches, and so on. But now we have some other protests that I want to encourage you to attend. For the past two years there have been various freedom marches to resist the draconian and over-the-top lockdowns and assaults on our basic liberties and human rights.

I have not been to any of these so far. But the protest we saw in Melbourne last Saturday may be a turning point for me – and for you. A very large crowd gathered there to stand for liberty in general and against the horrific new bill that Victoria’s Premier wants to see rushed through parliament. I spoke about this diabolical piece of legislation here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2021/10/27/dictatorship-dangers-everywhere/

Recall that it basically makes Dan Andrews Dictator for Life, and anyone daring to resist his iron fist could face two years in jail and a $90,000 fine! This bill is so bad that even the hard left Andrews-supporting Melbourne Age featured this article on it which began:

The president of the Victorian Bar has slammed the Andrews government’s new pandemic legislation as “appalling” and revealed the government “grossly misrepresented” its consultation with the barristers’ peak body. Christopher Blanden, QC, said the new laws, designed to replace sweeping state of emergency powers, would give the Premier unprecedented power with little to no checks and balances. “Stasi police would have been more than happy with the range of powers if they were given it,” Mr Blanden told The Age. “It’s extraordinary.”

A helpful 12-minute video discussing the very real dangers of this legislation can be found here: https://www.discernable.io/podcast/episode/28fecff6/permanent-state-of-emergency-legislation-for-dan-andrews

This is one really bad bill. That is why thousands of Victorians are marching against this ugly tyranny. While the lamestream media has largely been silent on these peaceful protests, others have been discussing them and sounding the alarm.

Avi Yemini of Rebel News for example has covered it: https://www.rebelnews.com/protest_against_dan_andrews_bill

Even the RT TV Network ran a piece on this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xTbvtZGI-w&t=606s

Reignite Democracy Australia has been doing a lot on these matters as well, especially seeking to stop this despotic bill: https://www.reignitedemocracyaustralia.com.au/

The Christian connection

And that is why it is time we join them. Past freedom marches may have had some Christians in attendance, but it is now clear that many more must join in. And we have a unique contribution to make in all this. I had a prayer warrior from Sydney call me the other day and say her group is doing some heavy-duty spiritual warfare for Melbourne and Dan Andrews.

It was great to hear that. The truth is, we need both activism and prayer. Going to a freedom march is activism, but if you come with some other believers to do prayer and intercession, that is better still. One person who was at last week’s march is the well-known pro-life champion Kathy Clubb. I have written her up often on these pages. See for example this piece: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2017/10/11/mother-punished-loving-babies/

She has recently written up her experience of the march – her first time at one of these events – and it is well worth sharing. This is what she had to say:

You are no doubt very familiar with the protests that have been taking place throughout Melbourne for the last few months. These have rightly captured the attention of our politicians for a number of reasons: the need for making our leaders hear our concerns is more urgent than ever with the government’s draconian emergency powers Bill.

 

There are times when prayer is enough, and there are times when some additional action is needed: you know how much I believe in this principle, as I was willing to face arrest for the right to protest against an unjust law that stopped us from helping abortion-minded women.

 

This principle is related to what James instructed (James 2: 14-16): he wrote that it’s not enough to wish the poor well – we are obliged to take action to help them. In the same way, at this present juncture in history, it is not enough to pray for a better government or to pray for an end to lockdowns and mandates: we are obliged to also take action.

 

Many have been emailing or phoning politicians, which is helpful, but the action required now from all of us is to take up space in the public square. Our secular friends have been very good at this – and many Christians have joined them, of course – but unfortunately protests are often accompanied by blasphemy and profanity as well as by violence.

 

When Christians pray publicly, we can bring civility and peace – not the world’s peace, but that peace that comes only from God. Last Saturday, Catholics gathered at St Patrick’s Cathedral to pray, then processed to Parliament, converging with the huge secular protest. Our presence was well-received by police, protesters and journalists.

 

I urge you to join us next Saturday afternoon with your own church group so that we can present a massive Christian force which will make a prayer-filled impact on our State of Victoria.

 

Our opportunities to gather peacefully are most likely very limited from now on: there is very little hope that the emergency powers Bill will not pass the Upper House when it is debated on November 16th. God can stop it – but He may wish to let us reap the consequences of the evil that has been sown in our State: abortion, euthanasia, gender propaganda, Communism, corruption, and the list goes on.

 

At least, let us not have to say that we didn’t try, that we weren’t there when the people of Victoria turned out to fight for freedom.

Yes quite right Kathy. As she makes clear, we need many more folks to be there to add this most important element of a prayerful presence. So please think about coming along this Saturday. It really is time for Christians to stop being silent and start speaking up for basic human rights and freedoms – and that includes the freedom to proclaim the gospel.

One Christian leader’s stance

I was just alerted to one leader of a large Melbourne church who has written on her own private website something she seems to not be able to say publically from the pulpit. I am thankful she has spoken out and is brave enough to stand for freedom and against coercion. And she is doing so because of her Christian convictions. She wrote in part:

The voices that have shouted ‘my body, my choice’ from the rooftops for the past 4 decades are now strangely silent, as our clinics and vaccination centres fill up with people who are signing documents giving their consent, while knowing their consent is being given under duress.

 

I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t like putting my head up on these issues. I don’t like the arguing, the vitriol, and the blaming. I’ve snoozed many people over the past few months because I’m tired of it. But while I’ve (mostly) stayed down in my spot under a rock, I’ve watched with horror while we as a society have allowed, with barely a peep, those we elected to completely ignore the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 13, Article 20 & Article 23 for ‘the good of society’, and now they’re ignoring the Nuremberg code too. These documents were written so ‘the good of society’ would never again be a legitimate reason to strip citizens of their basic human dignity.

 

I may not want to talk about this, but unfortunately for me, silence is no longer an option. Because the further we descend into these mandates, with businesses and private citizens now being encouraged to participate in these violations, silence is beginning to feel like complicity…

 

Mandates should be a concern for everyone, regardless of your view on injections and lockdowns… because you might agree with the lesser of two evils in this instance, but what if you’re the one being coerced against your conscience next time? What we allow today affects the generations beyond ours.

 

It’s with all the above in mind that I have made the decision not to exclude or discriminate against anyone due to their medical status. Frankly I don’t even want to know what your decision is. Your choice is your business, not mine. More power to you for the decision you’ve made, whether it’s the same decision as mine or not. I choose not to see or treat you as ‘less than’ just because we have landed with divergent opinions. I honor your choice to assess risk and consequences. And regardless of where you’ve landed in your decision, I applaud you making a choice for yourself, your family and your community, based on your convictions. I’m not going to condescend to you by suggesting you haven’t considered your neighbour or your community in your decision. I know you have. We all have.

 

For those who have not been able to see this from any other perspective than ‘We’re in a global pandemic, why not just comply?’ I genuinely pray this has helped frame things a little more broadly for you. https://www.heatherpackett.com/blog/for-the-good-of-society

What can we do?

In sum, there are many things we can do about this evil bill and this descent into despotism:

-Consider attending the freedom rallies
-Pray!
-Why not do both? Bring a group of fellow believers to the march and pray!
-Contact your local members
-Sign and share this petition: https://www.rebelnews.com/kill_dans_bill?utm_campaign=ay_killthebill_11_1_21&utm_medium=email&utm_source=therebel

Together we CAN make a difference.

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