The motto of Russia's OMON Special Forces police is: ?Special Forces know no mercy and never ask for it.?

Frequently deployed on the battlefields of Chechnya, the OMON police have now been assigned the task of dealing with protests by political dissidents.

At a recent exhibition, OMON police proudly displayed their firepower, and demonstrated various techniques to break the arms, legs, back, and neck of anyone who happens to fall into their hands.

That's how it is in Russia. What does it say about our society, then, when we see the militarization of our law enforcement culture?

The Associated Press reports that ?scores of police agencies large and small, from Lexington, Ky., to Austin, Texas, [are] buying armored vehicles at Homeland Security expense....? Armor is increasingly used in ordinary crime patrols, and SWAT teams are routinely used to serve search warrants and deal with non-violent offenses ? such as underground poker games.

If we really won the Cold War, why is our society starting to resemble Russia at its worst?

Let us stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.