Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

September 3, 2008

As Hurricane Gustav approached the Gulf Coast, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin issued a mandatory evacuation order and curfew enforced by police and National Guard troops. Those caught outside their property during curfew hours would be subject to summary imprisonment.

Some might defend such draconian measures during a natural disaster. But municipal authorities seem indecently eager to impose martial law. Police recently used checkpoints to shut down entire sections of Washington, D.C. In Chicago, SWAT teams on the streets and helicopter patrols in the air have become familiar sights as part of a crime prevention effort.

In early August, the Mayor of Helena-West Helena Arkansas imposed martial law over a 10-block neighborhood, deploying police armed with automatic weapons to arrest anyone seen outside his home ? and even summarily to evict those living where crimes had taken place.

Autocratic rule is highly contagious to politicians, and lethal to individual liberties.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.