Hi Friend,

One infamous period in the history of our nation is known as the era of Prohibition.  Well-intentioned people recognized the damage that the misuse of alcohol was causing our country and they sought to save the family through legislation.  The Eighteenth Amendment was passed and from 1920 until 1933 the sale and transportation of alcohol was illegal in America.

It never worked.  A large segment of the population simply did not obey the law.  Not only did people find a way to drink, but government overreach created some of the worst criminals our country has known.  The result was the proliferation of underground taverns and nightclubs where people could buy a drink.  They were called “Speakeasies” because people had to whisper to one another to find and enter a place which operated outside the law.

America has entered another “speakeasy” period because governors, mayors and bureaucrats are mandating rules that destroy businesses and impoverish families.  Citizens, as well as congressmen are rebelling.  Several congressmen have defied the mandate of the Speaker of the House.  Governors are defying the President of the U.S.  Healthcare workers are defying hospital administrators.

When the Mayor of New York City mandated that restaurants must require a vaccine passport to allow customers to enter, the managers paid lip service but ignored the mayor’s order.  Authoritative sources say that more than half of the vaccine papers are fake, easily obtainable over the internet and hardly glanced at by managers.  A vaccine-passport bouncer at a New York restaurant told a customer, “Whatever, just show me proof of your magic fairy dust and come in.”

The sad reality is that politicians have made the “law” a curse word in our culture.

The Prophet Isaiah said that the Messiah would “exalt the law and make it honorable.” (Isaiah 42:21) which is a testimony that even in his day politicians had corrupted laws.  Later, the Apostle Paul, a self-described Pharisee of Pharisees, came to recognize that law has inherent limitations.  He used the phrase, “what the law was powerless to do…” (Romans 8:3) implying that the law could never make a man righteous.  Politicians would do well to study Paul’s letter.

One commentator has said that the leaders are “playing with fire” by presuming to be in charge of our lives.  The problem is that they have failed miserably.  Their methods have failed to protect the people, to stop the pandemic or to inspire the public. There is good evidence to show that they have made the pandemic worse.

The inevitable result is that people have no confidence in political leaders, the news media, the educational system, or the medical establishment.  As a result, we face a crisis of the survival of civilization.  Citizens are forced to lie in order to continue employment or maintain a normal life.  We’re living in a new Speakeasy.

When Pilate, a politician, asked Jesus if he were the King of the Jews, Jesus replied that he was “born and came into the world to testify to the truth.”  (John 18:37)

“What is truth?” retorted Pilate. (verse 38)  Pilate, the politician that had coerced the citizens into a 1st Century Speakeasy, was a forerunner of today’s politicians.  He had no more confidence in his own words than he did of the news media of his day.

It is the core factor that the world has always faced—and we face it today.  The answer is the same now as it has always been.  Jesus brought truth—he made the law honorable.  Civilization will be saved by those who believe Jesus.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien