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My Day in Court by Bolivar "All, too, will bear in mind this sacred principle, that though the
will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful
must be reasonable; that the minority possess their equal rights, which
equal law must protect, and to violate would be oppression." ~
President Thomas Jefferson,
First Inaugural Address, If
only Thomas Jefferson could see me now. If only he could savor the sweet
fruits of his prophetical
and misunderstood insight into the horrors of majority rule! How right he
was that the will of the majority must be reasonable. But not just
reasonable--also ethical, moral, above reproach and unwilling to trample
on the sacred rights of fellow men. But how gullible are we to think we
can entrust mere mortals with the impossible feat of protecting under
color of law those divine rights which we ourselves must defend ? Very. Well,
I had my day in court, and I too tasted the bittersweet poison of Word
to the wise--when singing Christian music in your car and driving with the
flow of traffic on a clear, beautiful fall morning, remember you must
first worship the State and "Slow Down." The charge for which I
was arrested and released at the scene? Automatic "Reckless
Driving" per freshly passed statutory law. I thought about
apologizing to the State Trooper profusely for running over the
pedestrians a few miles back and weaving in and out of traffic in such a
way that I caused a few small sedans and a tiny woman in a big SUV with a
Howard Dean bumper sticker to run off the road. But it was best that I
kept my mouth shut. White troopers may not like a young Latino saying
anything other than, "yes, sir," "no sir," "yes,
master." We live in the land of the free? Needless
to say, I was surprised when the Trooper pulled me over in a covert white
sports car, looking like he borrowed it from his teenage daughter. So this
is what it feels like to get bumrushed in The
Trooper handed me my information and told me I was going an outrageous
speed. Of course he must have exceeded whatever that speed was in order to
catch up to me, but who's keeping count. Perhaps he hit the pedestrians a
second time. My better judgment knew that I was going about ten miles
slower, but how can you argue with a Trooper with no radar gun and a bad
case of that-time-of-the-month-have-to-meet-my-quota? My speedometer
refused to testify on my behalf. I obediently accepted my arrest and
summons ticket with the enthusiasm of a parent being advised their kid
needlessly died in I
managed to pry out a cold "Thank You" to the officer that was
about as warm a reception I would ever give someone in his line of
un-profession. Weren't there any real crimes being committed in the
hundred mile radius? Weren't those my income and sales taxes paying for
his uniform and his stealth hot rod? By this time, the Christian praise
music was turned off, and my thoughts drifted off to Catholic parochial
school were I was taught that to "honor thy father and mother"
also meant to always obey police officers. I wanted to drive around
looking for the closest nun to give a good rebuke. Being
the model American citizen I was, I made my way to work in order to help
improve George W.'s economy, when the gravity of the situation sunk in.
That wasn't just a ticket I got. It was a summons. As in court. As in a
judge and a government prosecutor, (that diabolical role that still ruins
the human race). I started getting nervous, since I was a relatively new
law student studying to one day present myself before the government bar
to, yes, you guessed it, ask permission to practice in state and federal
courts. "Honor thy government." A conviction for a felony would
not look too good to the bar review committee. So what do law students do
when they get in trouble? Find a lawyer who will help them out. And so I
did. And it helped, but little did I know I was morally better off going
to my son and admitting to him, "Son, your father is a coward." Here
was my chance to practice the Justice
had finally been served! A dangerous, roving criminal like myself was
pulled off the very highway I took to work every morning to gain the wages
that clowns like this government prosecutor so easily stole from my
paychecks and fine. My state legislature, robed in the impeccable garb of
light and goodness, looked out on the helpless mass of my neighbors and
decided that if some should choose to drive against the resistance of wind
and friction at a speed that was not to their liking, they would be found
guilty of a felonious and scandalous crime. I think the amendment to put
these criminals in stocks at the town center was narrowly defeated in
session. These
charlatans in political office spoke on behalf of the majority who elected
them to office. The majority chose to hand the reins of personal
responsibility and freedom to their government masters instead of choosing
self-discipline and good parenting decisions for their own families.
Meantime, the minority who either did not vote or were defeated by the
serfs' incumbent, had to quietly and obediently take one for the team. The
majority makes state politicians into the new prelates and priests of our
day, selling the junk trinkets of false religion and superstition and
gladly taking the shillings of an over-taxed peasantry in order to hear
souls spring every time the coin box rings! It is no wonder to me that we
are just a breath away from the New Dark Ages, a time when computer
databases and technology will replace medieval castles and knights. The
people are hungry and desperate for feudal lords who would pen their gates
in and protect them from freedom, rather than leaving them free. “Let us remember, that 'if we
suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it, and
involve others in our doom.' It is a very serious consideration, which
should deeply impress our minds, that millions yet unborn may be the
miserable sharers in the event.” Samuel
Adams, speech in But
then the moment of truth came. I was called in session before the judge
(his honor?) to provide an answer. There I was ready to stand up for
myself--to be a man endowed with unalienable rights for which I could
drive a car without interference unless it was proven I caused harm to
another. I even dressed up in a suit. So what did this ardent patriot do
when given a chance to address the court of justice and the mechanisms of
the State? I said, "Good morning, your honor," and "Yes, I
plead guilty." There it was. All my convictions, beliefs, morals and
the hopes of example for my children dashed into a thousand pieces of
miserable hypocrisy and shame. I pled guilty and accepted the crooked plea
bargain of a crooked system that sought to reduce me to nothing less than
a peon and serf forever condemned to a plebian existence. What
of the jury trials, and being innocent until proven guilty? What of my
peers judging the law itself and finding such charges to be unjust, let
alone illegal under the very documents, language and constitutions that
brought our raging colonies from under the fat fingers of tyrannical A
youth pastor once told a college friend of mine that if he wanted to be
serious about his faith, he must obey the speed limits meticulously. I
didn't have a Scriptural reason at that time as to why I did not agree
with the man, but something did not sit right with me on this one. I now
know that self-government as ordained by God has only one limited,
legitimate function, and passing speed limits is not it. Perhaps
it could be said that if I make an agreement with a private highway owner
to obey a private speed limit, then I have given my word and have made a
contractual promise. I am then liable for keeping it in the eyes of my
peers as well as the eyes of my God, to the detriment of either my public
reputation and the judgment of my Lord. But if I may travel on a private
road with no restrictions, what right does a homeowner on that road have
to pull me over and harass me if I go too fast for his liking or if he
feels inferior when I pass him in the fast lane? If he does not like my
safe driving, then he should take it up with the road owner. Likewise, the
Scripture says that the earth is the Lord's and everything in it. That
includes the federal highways not owned by one particular man but
supposedly kept in common for the People. Therefore, the State has no
moral justification to harass travelers who are not proven to have
actually caused harm to others when traveling on the True King's highway. Lest
there be moral busybodies out there who would arm themselves with God's
Word to help cement their ceaseless worship of Big Brother and government,
I will offer the scathing judgment of Scripture upon those politicians who
would abuse the Creator when they abuse His created mankind. For God used
the mightiest empire on earth under Nebuchadnezzar to destroy and
humiliate the very people called by His Name: But
lest any man think that God would support or endorse a tyrant of any
political stripe or historical epoch, we are told that "Behold I am going to stir up the Medes against them, who will not
value silver or take pleasure in gold, and their bows will mow down the
young men, they will not even have compassion on the fruit of the womb,
now ill their eye pity children. And |
