Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

August 23, 2011

Perhaps unwittingly, contemporary songwriter Gino Vannelli offered a valid theological insight when he wrote that there is ?A Little Bit of Judas in Us All.? This trait is relentlessly exploited by the devious, opportunistic people who presume to rule the rest of us.

The Arlington and Mansfield Independent School Districts in North Texas have created an anti-truancy program called ?You Earn, They Learn.? Tiara Ellis Richard of the Arlington Police Department explains that when residents see a school-age child suspected of cutting classes, they can call in an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers. The police will then dispatch a ?school resource officer? to investigate the complaint. The informant will be paid up to $40 for each confirmed tip.

As is always the case, this rat-on-your neighbor initiative is depicted as a form of applied altruism. It will pose obvious and potentially serious problems for local homeschoolers, who can expect a great deal of unwarranted and potentially dangerous attention from the police.

Every police state relies heavily on the cooperation of those who are willing to inform on their friends in exchange for some trivial material reward ? and the intoxicating sense of righteousness that comes from being a tattle-tale.

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