Complimentary Story
“Freedom is messy. In free societies, people will fall through the cracks — drink too much, buy unaffordable homes, fail to make prudent provision for health care, and much else. But the price of being relieved of all those tiresome choices by a benign paternal government is far too high…Big government leads to small liberty, and to small men…It turns them into, if not (yet) slaves, then pets.” (Mark Steyn in ‘After America’).Steyn goes on to point out that the inevitable result of continued central government expansion is that it fundamentally changes the relationship between citizens and the state into something like that between drug dealer and junkie. That’s one way of putting it. Another is that an expanding central government ultimately seeks to establish itself as the citizens’ god – to be worshipped by strict obedience – and those who resist would be the ones falling through the cracks. To complete that process, the state would need to abolish all other gods, especially our Christian God. We aren’t there yet, but that’s the direction we’re headed.
In considering a future like this, at least three basic questions come to mind: (1) what might life be like for you and yours in the event of a socialistic takeover and a collapse of life as we know it? (2) how would we carry on “illegal” worship as a church body? And (3) how, if at all, might you and fellow patriots resist?
In the novel ‘No Middle Ground’ that I advertise in this publication, my objective is to illustrate how a (fictitious) group of oppressed believers and patriots in the woodlands of northern Maine addressed these three basic questions. As background, the story assumes that an elected socialistic central government had substantially increased citizen dependency on Washington largesse, financing it primarily by money printing. Sound familiar? Moreover, religious persecution had become overt and aggressive, with organized churches being forced out of existence. And gun confiscation was pursued in earnest. Then, at a tipping point, hyperinflation was set in motion — and the inevitable collapse was followed by martial law. The result, of course, was widespread deprivation, with tyranny emerging at all government levels to keep the now-desperate citizens in check. Uncle Sugar had become Big Brother.
Now, in the small (fictitious) northern Maine town of “Perth,” the citizens are at the mercy of a hand-picked council, which is really just a sounding board for the council chief, who has been sent by Washington. These local “governors” are supported by a security force of several cops. The town receives periodic shipments of canned and packaged food to be distributed to citizens, and there’s also a town farm that’s worked by “lawbreakers.” There is virtually no livestock or dairy stock remaining. Also, since the central government has claimed ownership of all property, buildings, forests and wildlife, hunting is prohibited, as is the cutting of trees, except by town “employees” to dole out to citizens as heating fuel. And because (1) the firewood allotments are relatively meager and (2) there are significantly fewer wood stoves than households, many families have to double up or triple up in the smallest houses to make the fuel go a longer way. Finally, only town officials have access to electrical power, phones, and fossil fuels, and most citizens must manually draw water at the town buildings. The only cars are police cars.
The main character in the book is Richard Paradis, an auctioneer by trade, who is a native of Perth and has returned after working for several years in the Boston area. In the course of his work, he comes across a book celebrating the bicentennial of Perth, and in it he discovers a photo of a church pastor named Richard Paradise (with an ‘e’ at the end) who could be his identical twin – a real doppelgänger. Deeply intrigued, Richard tries to trace the book’s publication but can find no record of it, and this starts him off on an adventure that provides several twists, turns, and questions of faith before it’s over. In his quest for answers, he meets Pastor Paradise – and Emily.
The above paragraphs suggest the general extent and nature of hardships the citizens of a dystopian rural town might face under authoritarian rule. Your imagination can supply details for your own area. For example, if you live in a city in the northern part of the country, what would you do if fossil heating fuels were suddenly reduced or even cut off (as in the “green new deal”)? And suppose grocery store shelves rapidly emptied and you had to wait in line for meager rations doled out by the government? What if your electrical power was rationed to, say, a couple of four-hour periods a day, or even cut off completely? And how would you adjust to no gas for your car — and no phone service, TV, or Internet (except maybe a government channel)? You may not have satisfactory answers to these questions now, but the questions themselves should influence your vote this November.
The second basic question was how would you carry on “illegal” worship in such a dystopian scenario? If Bibles were outlawed and confiscated, would you give up yours? (Note that the “protesters” in Portland publicly burned Bibles in August.) And if punishments for organized worship were severe, what risks would you nevertheless take? More to the Biblical point, how would you reconcile the statement of Acts 5:29 (“Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men.”) with, for example, Romans 13:1-7, which discusses obedience to civil authorities instituted by God?
All of this leads to the third basic question: how, if at all, might you and your fellow believers and patriots resist an atheistic and tyrannical government? How might you start planning now for resistance? For example, if the government suddenly passed unconstitutional gun control laws and ordered you to turn in your guns, what would you do? In the book, the citizens were slow in realizing what was in store for them, and while they did manage to hide their guns and ammunition, they were able to prepare for other essentials only to a limited extent. However, their belatedness was compensated for by the fortuitous arrival of Richard Paradis — and by a resurgence of faith.
In the here and now, we are well aware of the malevolent Marxist forces waiting and flexing outside our country’s innermost cultural and political gates, ready to storm through at the first opportunity (like the coming election). Are you assuming it can’t happen? Are you willing to passively acquiesce if it does? If not, then maybe you should pray now for God’s guidance and seek His will on what, if anything, you need to do NOW.
Quite possibly, the spread of moral and cultural rot throughout this country may be great enough that the Spirit moves you to start preparing for difficult times. If so, I suggest that reading ‘No Middle Ground’ can provide a starting point. It’s an intriguing adventure and (I’m told) a good read. To get your copy for $9.95 plus $6 shipping (US only), you can e-mail me or send a check to me at 1755 Woodland Center Road, Perham, ME 04766. You can also use PayPal or link to Amazon Kindle at:
SurvivalbyFaith.com.
Email comments to: NKuk@PioneerCable.net
