In the current governmental climate, where laws that run counter to the dictates of the Constitution are made in secret, passed without debate, and upheld by secret courts that operate behind closed doors, obeying one's conscience and speaking truth to the power of the police state can render you an "Enemy of the state."
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is merely the latest victim of the police state's assault on dissidents and whistleblowers.
America had its color-coded system of racial segregation and warmongering called out for what it was, blatant discrimination and profiteering, by Martin Luther King Jr. And then there was Jesus Christ, an itinerant preacher and revolutionary activist, who not only died challenging the police state of his day-namely, the Roman Empire-but provided a blueprint for civil disobedience that would be followed by those, religious and otherwise, who came after him.
It is fitting that we remember that Jesus Christ-the religious figure worshipped by Christians for his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection-paid the ultimate price for speaking out against the police state of his day.
Much like the American Empire today, the Roman Empire of Jesus' day had all of the characteristics of a police state: secrecy, surveillance, a widespread police presence, a citizenry treated like suspects with little recourse against the police state, perpetual wars, a military empire, martial law, and political retribution against those who dared to challenge the power of the state.
For all the accolades poured out upon Jesus, little is said about the harsh realities of the police state in which he lived and its similarities to modern-day America, and yet they are striking.
The radical Jesus, the political dissident who took aim at injustice and oppression, has been largely forgotten today, replaced by a congenial, smiling Jesus trotted out for religious holidays but otherwise rendered mute when it comes to matters of war, power and politics.
http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2019/april/17/from-jesus-christ-to-julian-assange-when-dissidents-become-enemies-of-the-state/
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is merely the latest victim of the police state's assault on dissidents and whistleblowers.
America had its color-coded system of racial segregation and warmongering called out for what it was, blatant discrimination and profiteering, by Martin Luther King Jr. And then there was Jesus Christ, an itinerant preacher and revolutionary activist, who not only died challenging the police state of his day-namely, the Roman Empire-but provided a blueprint for civil disobedience that would be followed by those, religious and otherwise, who came after him.
It is fitting that we remember that Jesus Christ-the religious figure worshipped by Christians for his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection-paid the ultimate price for speaking out against the police state of his day.
Much like the American Empire today, the Roman Empire of Jesus' day had all of the characteristics of a police state: secrecy, surveillance, a widespread police presence, a citizenry treated like suspects with little recourse against the police state, perpetual wars, a military empire, martial law, and political retribution against those who dared to challenge the power of the state.
For all the accolades poured out upon Jesus, little is said about the harsh realities of the police state in which he lived and its similarities to modern-day America, and yet they are striking.
The radical Jesus, the political dissident who took aim at injustice and oppression, has been largely forgotten today, replaced by a congenial, smiling Jesus trotted out for religious holidays but otherwise rendered mute when it comes to matters of war, power and politics.
http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2019/april/17/from-jesus-christ-to-julian-assange-when-dissidents-become-enemies-of-the-state/
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