Thanks to voters in Northern Virginia and Democrat bastions like Richmond, the Old Dominion State now has a governor and a legislature determined to bring massive changes to state law and culture. The Virginia Senate has already put together an amendment to the state constitution guaranteeing the “fundamental right to reproductive freedom,” meaning abortion up to full-term pregnancy. They’re also hard at work on redistricting and keeping ICE from arresting illegal immigrants, both moves which could help secure future election victories for their party.
Matt Vespa records more than 20 other items Democrats will be bringing before the legislature in his Townhall article, including lower the criminal penalties for robbery, make it illegal to hand count ballots, and replace Columbus Day with “Indigenous Peoples Day.” Missing from the list are the trans issues that have made headlines for the last decade, like permitting self-proclaimed transgender students to the school restroom of their choice or to participate in women’s athletics.
Virginia has not yet sunk to the level of crazy found in states like California and New York, where people are voting with their feet and departing for red states like Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama. Yet Vespa advises, “If you’re able to move and are a conservative Virginian, it might be time to flee, because this list of new taxes and other public policy nonsense is going to pass.”
Legal scholar Jonathan Turley likewise muses on the possibility of an exodus from Virginia, writing, “For many wealthy families, West Virginia or Florida are likely looking more and more appealing.”
Fight or flight is the psychological response to threats or danger, but is flight really the best response when the states we call home fall under the thumb of ideology and aspiring autocrats? The answer to that question may be yes for the short term and for the individual, but for society and the long-term, it seems better to stand our ground, draw sabers, and ride to the sound of the guns.
Virginia, the birthplace of Americans like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, is the bugle call to mount up and ready ourselves for battle, not later but now. For those living in strong red states, now is the time to inoculate your family, friends, and fellow citizens against the left’s radical agenda and propaganda through education and the promotion of common sense. It’s time for everyone from legislators to teachers to parents to instruct the young and others in the tenets of liberty, natural rights, and virtue. For those living in states teetering between red and blue, it’s time for conservative legislators to stop playing political games and to step up and defend the rights of their constituents and the integrity of their own beliefs.
Nor is all lost if our state, whether Virginia, Georgia, or Alabama, slips into the wild blue yonder. When the radical opposition controls legislation, individuals stand in the gap in resisting heavy-handed government. In Virginia, for instance, the state’s two Catholic bishops, Michael Burbidge and Barry Knestout, have already issued a statement condemning the abortion amendment and calling on voters to reject it. Here is where the resistance begins for this assault on human personhood.
If our states fall prey to bad law, then it’s imperative to resist. If a governor and legislature pass a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers or a bill that “prohibit[s] outdoor shooting on land less than 5 acres,” as those in Virginia hope to do, it’s time to follow the lead of the Democrats over the last 10 years and take those laws to court. It’s also time to crank up those leaf blowers every fall and establish a backyard shooting range with your neighbors.
An example from our own revolutionary period will also yield benefits in the face of tinpot dictators. Those Founders had their correspondence groups and the Sons of Liberty; we can follow suit and get together face-to-face or online with likeminded neighbors to educate ourselves through reading and discussion, and when necessary, to lay plans to peacefully resist attacks on our liberties.
In these efforts, we might take as our watchword Virginia’s now meaningless state motto, “Sic Semper Tyrannis,” which translates from Latin as “Thus Always to Tyrants” and appears on the state flag and great seal featuring the Roman goddess Virtue standing triumphant over Tyranny with his whip and broken chain.
For all liberty-loving Americans, from Alabama to Maine, from South Carolina to Oregon, “Sic Semper Tyrannis” is the perfect battle cry in this 250th anniversary year of the Declaration of Independence as we fight the unending war against overreaching and rapacious government.
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This article was made possible by The Fred & Rheta Skelton Center for Cultural Renewal.
Image credit: Flickr-Wally Gobetz, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
