Writers and those who give voice to dissent are always the first line of defense in a free society. They are also the first targets of tyrants. But modern tyrants have discovered that while free voices cannot be killed out, they can be ridiculed into silence and supplanted with compliant voices.
You have only to press the power button on your computer, phone, or television to hear the echoing words of the foes of freedom, independent speech, and avid pursuit of life. They speak with one voice, correct of language and moderated by their watchdogs. They will tell you what to think, how to respond, and how all the best people behave. These are the real monsters.
However, the talking heads are not the vilest of the monsters. That place is reserved for the compliant who go along to get along and sell the souls of their fellows to the beast. These are those who sit masked before their masters, drinking in the soothing words of promised safety and regurgitating the message of the tyrants.
They are the true tyrants—the tyranny of the majority who for a morsel of praise damn those who possess integrity, cherish freedom, and voice the truth. How they love to proclaim themselves the guardians of the common good, the selfless sentries of the community, and the nonjudgmental jurors of the public trust.
They are the soldiers doing their duty just loading the boxcars bound for places they don’t think about. They are those who man the furnaces that rid the state of bothersome garbage. They march and sing for a diversity they don’t practice and a right to choose the don’t share.
They are the sightless monsters behind the knock on the door that none may pass through to the world. From their sanctuaries, they rage against all they fear calling on their army of servants to deliver them that their hands might appear clean.
Maranatha
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