Rebel TV E29 Tyranny, The Lesser magistrate and Constitutional Sanctuaries 1/29/21

Tyranny, The Lesser magistrate and Constitutional Sanctuaries
The tyranny of the state. Despots at every level of government claiming the authority to order everything in our lives, even within the walls of our own homes. What had been a steadily growing stream of totalitarian edicts has become a tsunami and an even bigger second wave is on the way. If we are not only to protect the little liberty we have but restore the rights and freedoms bestowed on us by nature and nature's God and legally guaranteed us under the Constitution, we need to do more than sit in our living room with a loaded gun. We need a plan.
Tyrants have been around forever, there will always be one man who will trample the rights of others, stealing the products of their minds and hands for his own aggrandizement. Therefore, there have always been forms of resistance because man yearns to be free. The question is, what form of resistance will best achieve the goal in a specific circumstance? In most western countries, power is exercised at various levels, from national to local, with each level of government having different responsibilities and authority. In the United States, this was made explicit under the doctrine of federalism. Each level of government not only had defined and limited powers but each level served as a check on the other. There were not only checks and balances within a specific level of government, legislative, judicial and executive, but the various levels of government served as checks on each other. The states were supposed to keep the federal government in check, this was once done primarily with senatorial representatives. Local governments kept states in check. Each level of government has its own legal authority and when one level oversteps their authority, it is the duty of the others to step in and stop the abuses. The ever expanding power of imperial Washington has destroyed this system. Now a court decision, an executive order, an agency regulation or, occasionally, an actual law handed down from the national government can destroy freedom and regulate a right out of existence for everyone.
But this is only true because we allow it. Somewhere along the line we lost our courage or allowed ourselves to be bribed with our own money. The only way to restore our liberty is through organized resistance and that begins, in our system, with the doctrine of the lesser magistrate. This idea actually goes back to the Magdeburg Confession of 1550. There, the power of the lesser magistrate to resist tyranny was first published in Europe. It states that when the higher or superior authority makes an unjust or immoral law or decree, the lower or lesser magistrates have both a right and duty to interpose and refuse obedience to the superior authority, and if needs be, openly resist their unjust or immoral law or decree.
This means if a state governor institutes a lockdown or prohibits people from going to church or forces them to cover their faces the local authorities, city and county officials, have the right and duty to ignore and resist the implementation of such a decree. Just because the state authorities have violated their oath to the Constitution does not mean the local authorities must comply. They have a duty to their own oath and that duty supersedes their obligations to state or national authorities. Earlier this year in Virginia and other places, Second Amendment Sanctuaries were declared that would at least ignore any unconstitutional gun legislation enacted by state or federal authorities. Sheriffs in various counties across the country have refused to enforce the draconian lockdown edicts of various governors. These are small and limited examples of this doctrine.
If we are to restore our natural rights and liberties we need more than an occasional stand against the most outrageous abuses. We have been letting all this incrementalism slide for too long, we have fought minor skirmishes while the great army of tyranny just moved around and enveloped us until the skirmish was forgotten, the new outrage accepted. We need to resist all the abuses of our rights, every attack on our liberty. That is why I developed the idea of the Constitutional Sanctuary where a local or state government would ignore the implementation and resist the enforcement of any law, rule, regulation, executive or court order that infringed on any right or restricted any liberty. Our right to speak and assemble, our right to the fruits of our labor, our right to be secure in our persons and possession, don't these rights need protection as well? Of course they do and we should stand up for them too.
The Covid Crisis has not only revealed the worst tyrannical impulses of our leaders but also showed that there are men and women of courage out there who still believe in liberty and have the guts to stand up for it. It's a start but we need to do so much more. Of course the lesser magistrate doctrine means nothing if your lesser magistrate; sheriff, county supervisor, or mayor is a spineless conformist or a petty tyrant themselves. We the people must get involved at the local level and make this an issue. Candidates need to be asked how seriously they are about freedom and their oath to the Constitution. We need to elect local people of real courage, leaders worthy of being followed and supported, men and women who will stand against tyranny from any source.
This will necessitate big changes in the way things are done. The state and federal governments buy loyalty and authority with the money they steal from us and we've got to stop that give and take. The local authorities need to take their mouth off the higher government's teat just like we do. If you are not willing to take responsibility for your own life and stop living at the expense of others, how are we to expect the local authorities to stick their necks out and thumb their noses at the state and feds? If defying the tyrants means the subsidies stop coming to the local government, are you ready and willing to give up all your own subsidies and welfare benefits? If we expect the local government to stop obeying the state or feds, are you willing to stop giving those same authorities financial support? Restoring liberty must be a comprehensive endeavor that demands courage and sacrifice and it starts with each of us. Paraphrasing Samuel Adams; if you love the illusion of your wealth and the fleeting tranquility of your servitude more than difficult contest for liberty, go away! Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you a pittance wrapped in lies. You are not worthy of the title American and may history forget you were our countrymen.