Picking A Side

 Over at the American Thinker today, Michael V. Wilson has an article explaining What Leftists Don't Get About Evil and the Law Wilson explains that in the law, there are two types of "wrong": Malum in Se" being wrong on its face, and "Malum Prohibitum," or wrong because we say so. Of the two, malum in se is the more powerful. Robbery, murder, lying, or bearing false witness are examples of malum in se. Malum in se laws are easily accepted by almost everyone because at heart, they are moral. Malum prohibitum laws can be useful, but many are tempted to disobey them at times because there is nothing immoral about doing so. So, for example, at three in the morning on a country back road, do you stop at the stop sign, or look both ways, and seeing nothing, slide on through?  Most gun control laws are malum prohibitum because there is nothing intrinsically immoral about a weapon.  It is only immoral if used for evil.  The same weapon, when used to defend yourself or others would be good.

Of course, all the malum in se laws are already on the books.  Malum prohibitum laws, though, are only limited by the imagination.  And unfortunately, the Left, which craves control, has a great imagination, and a huge number of grievances, most of them imaginary.

Having outline the law, the reason for this article comes into view.  Governors, mayors, and pretty much every Leftist and Leftist wannabe has put undue restrictions on Christian and Jewish services.  Leftists find Churches particularly annoying because their existence points to the fact that there is a higher power than the State.

Churches have been meeting together for prayer and fellowship since before Pentecost. During the early days, when the Roman Empire declared Christianity an outlaw religion, Christians were forced to meet secretly in caves and basements to avoid arrest, imprisonment, and death by torture, crucifixion, or lions.

Today, we're seeing a return to that same mentality among the secular left. Governors and mayors around the country have used the excuse of the Wuhan virus to crack down on religious services, particularly of the Jewish and Christian variety (I dare say they're being somewhat more circumspect in their dealings with Muslim gatherings.)

Churches met regularly for services during the Black Plague in Europe (1346–1353) and every other pandemic or disease outbreak before and since. Individuals were understood to have the capacity to make their own rational decisions about what was best for them and their families without being forced to obey a one-size-fits-none government mandate.

I have noted before that the current pandemic is not the Black Plague. The Black Death was 1500 times worse than this, and yet churches met regularly.

Wilson has a dire warning for Christians and Jews if Biden wins the Electoral College:

The left believes that whatever is passed into law is moral because it's the law. The intrinsic differences between malum in se and malum prohibitum will be ignored as leftists outlaw anything they don't like and mandate whatever they approve. With the power of government at their disposal, the left will harass, cancel, fine, arrest, imprison, and eventually execute anyone who disobeys their evil laws. No excuses will be allowed, and forgiveness won't be an option.

The specifics of the left's plans are irrelevant, because all its efforts will lead to the same dismal result: America as we know it will never be the same. It might survive as a single country or become balkanized along regional lines or state lines.

Maybe Trump will pull a rabbit out of his hat. But that only postpones the inevitable. Sooner or later, you will have to pick a side. Either you will be on God's side, or you will not.