Tyranny Must be Resisted

DISCLAIMER: This was not written by me, it was a comment that I reposted (with permission) from a Veteran on Facebook.

My fellow Americans,

Please...make no mistake about this healthcare bill. This bill is not about healthcare and it is not about Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. No, this is much more vast and treacherous than that. It is nothing more than the "fundamental transformation of America"--translated as the transfer of power and redistribution of wealth to the socialist working class. This is about Marx, Lewinsky, Soros, Andy Stern, the unions, and other socialist elitists that manipulate the puppet strings attached to Obama, Reid, Pelosi, et al. ...

What we are witnessing is nothing less then the fruits of seeds that were planted over 60 years ago and only now are bearing fruit. The arrogant disrespect and disregard for the will of the people as they force this bill upon us only shows us that they truly believe that they have succeeded. Their blatant disregard for our constitution and our democratic principles is nothing short of tyranny and their actions are nothing short of treason!

We can wring our hands and express our fears and concerns and write letters and make phone calls and send e-mails that have only fallen on deaf ears. Paradoxically those efforts actually seem to have emboldened them more as they trample on our God-given rights and liberty.

We can begrudgingly concede defeat and cry and hope for change in November of 2012; however, they don't care about November of 2012 or 2014--for they feel their time has come. They have shown that they are willing to 'martyr' their own to achieve the end; in this, they are no different than the Taliban or Al Quaida.

We can bow our heads and acquiesce and accept the "fundamental transformation"--Or--we can fight and resist!

But to fight tyranny...we must leave our comfort zones...that means being willing to sacrifice life, liberties, and more! We should take inspiration from those patriots in Iran and China that have risked all and have even died resisting tyranny and opression. If they can do that for even a modicum of freedom, what then can we do for our sacred liberty?

I, for one, stand willing, able, and ready!

And, lest you dismiss me as just another revolutionary, reactionary, fanatic, or red-neck militia member with crazy conspiracy theories, I am a Vietnam era and first Iraqi war vet. I have served both as an enlisted soldier and an officer in the US Army.

I am an upper middle-class surgeon/physician in a very successful practice and am also completing my MBA. I have a wonderful family with children and live very comfortably in "middle America".

I am Hispanic-American and my family has been here in the US since 1692. I come from a very modest background where my family was very poor and I had about an even chance of going to school or ending up dead or in prison. I chose the military and am proud to be able to say I have served my country honorably. I have worked hard and sacrificed much to achieve what I have and to become who and what I am today.

I have seen and lived the best this country has to offer and now I see and am living the worst! In my 55 years, I never dreamed I would see this happen to my country. Like many of you here and unlike Mrs. Obama, for once in my life, I am truly ashamed of my country.

Slowly but surely, God has been taken out of our government and out of our schools. My children are being indoctrinated in school and not taught. They are introduced to concepts that I disagree with which is fine—as long as dissenting concepts and tenets are also introduced and taught!

But, introducing my children to homosexuality and gay rights in elementary school is NOT alright! Teaching them that we are responsible for global warming without counter evidence is NOT acceptable to me! Teaching them that eating meat is inhumane is not acceptable! Taking Jefferson out of history textbooks discussing ‘the enlightenment’ and replacing him with Voltaire is not OK!

It is MY job to indoctrinate my children in the beliefs, customs, culture, and moral judgments that I and my family hold dear! It is only the job of the school to teach my children how to read, write, communicate, and learn!

I try to teach my children that this is the best country in the world. But it is hard to reinforce that when they see the shameful things our government is doing today in the name of progressive liberalism.

The ACLU claims to defend our civil rights—please! They have done nothing but erode our rights for the benefit of small fringe groups and individuals!

Andy Stern and the unions claim to represent the rights of workers—yet any student of economy will tell you that unions drive up the cost of labor which drives down the demand for labor and which ultimately leads to higher unemployment for all. They also will not tell you that while unions drive up the wages and increase the standard of living for union workers--at the same time, wages for non-union workers and their standard of living is driven down.

This government will tell you that ‘big bad corporations’ are the only ones that will be taxed—what they don’t tell you is that corporations don’t pay taxes...people do...and taxes to corporations are like human waste...it flows downhill! They also do not tell you how taxes cause dead weight losses that decrease the overall welfare of those that carry the burden of the tax.

The main-stream media and press which is supposed to be our ever vigilant first line of defense has lost all sense of objectivity and has aligned itself with the progressive doctrine and the "fundamental transformation of America".

Enough is enough! I’ve had enough and this latest show of political chicanery and complete disregard and disrespect for the collective will of the people and our constitution by this government has driven me to an anger and discontent that I have never experienced before!

I am not advocating violence--yet-- and would very much love to just stay in my comfort zone and run my practice and build my businesses and sing "everything is beautiful". But in my heart and in my soul, I cannot just sit back and quiet as just another disaffected American while this great nation crumbles around me. I can’t do that for me, for my children and their children, and I can’t do it for you!

Tyranny is tyranny...whether here or abroad and we don’t need talking heads and politicians to define it for us—we see it, recognize it and it MUST be resisted by whatever means necessary!

Dismiss me as a ranting and raving conservative (I am a middle American!) if you will—but know this—I will fight with my life to defend the rights of even those I disagree with...I guarantee you they will not do the same for you!

John R. Vigil, MD

"Easter Sunday: He Came, He Saw, He Conquered"

It has been a very busy week. Traveling with the controversial, self-proclaimed "King of Kings" or "Son of God" has been quite an experience!  First there was "Palm Sunday", when Jesus rode into town. The crowds were horrible that day. With all of the political tension so thick in the air, it was surprising that Jesus even showed up, but He sure did! In His last trip into Jerusalem, Jesus rode in on a donkey, but just as triumphantly as the King which He is, with His followers waving Palm Fronds in reverence. "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD! Hosanna in the highest!" the crowds yelled. One of the Pharisees were overheard telling Jesus to rebuke the crowds for saying such things, but He answered in a strange way. "If they kept quiet, the stones along the path would burst into cheers!" He told them.

Next on the agenda for this week was The Last Supper. It was held in the guest room of a house in Jerusalem. The exact location is being withheld to protect the owner's identity. Peter and John went ahead to prepare the meal and they did a terrific job. All of this occurred on Holy (Maundy) Thursday. All 12 of Jesus's disciples were in attendance Jesus had very interesting things to say during this feast. During a very serious moment, Jesus told them all that one of them would betray Him and that Peter would deny even knowing Him, not once but three times! Well, with the political upheaval that was happening, this was not too hard to believe. It is not exactly smiled upon to be a follower of Jesus. Jesus also told everyone in attendance that He was going to be crucified.

Bread loaves, and wine was among the food which was served. At one point, Jesus took a cup of wine and said thanks over it. Then He passed it to the 12 men and told them to share it among themselves. He also took a loaf of bread and tore it into pieces after thanking God for it also. While handing it out to His disciples, He said, "This is my body, given for you, This do in remembrance of me. This wine is the token of God's new covenant to save you, an agreement sealed with the blood I will pour out for you." It was a foreboding moment, and Jesus seemed to be in a rare solemn mood. Incidentally, Jesus was seen praying in the garden after supper, asking God to please let Him escape the horrors to come if it were at all possible. He seemed to be sweating blood. "Not My will but Thine be done," He added. It seems that Jesus trusts His Father unconditionally.

While He was in the garden, soldiers came to arrest Him. Judas, one of His 12 disciples, was with them, and betrayed Jesus with a kiss. Judas told the soldiers to arrest the one which he greeted with a kiss, and then walked over to kiss Jesus. He was paid 30 pieces of silver for his trouble. It is unclear if he ever got to spend any of it, since he committed suicide by hanging himself soon after Jesus was arrested. The disciples tried to stop the arrest, and one even cut off a soldier's ear, but Jesus simply placed the ear back on the man's head, and healed him.

Good Friday turned out to show exactly why Jesus was so serious during the supper. The masses eventually got to Pilot, it seems. Everyone wanted Jesus to be crucified, but Pilot was having a hard time understanding why this man should die. He had committed no crime, and had never harmed anyone. In fact, He had healed many people, and spoke of loving others on many occasions. Of course, politically it was the right thing for Pilot's career to follow the majority's wishes. He did try to appease them with a thief named Barabbas, but they wanted to see Jesus die. It was obviously with reluctance that Pilot conceded and let Barabbas go. He then handed Jesus over to be beaten with a lead tipped whip. While Jesus was being questioned by the religious and political leaders, three different people asked Peter if he knew Jesus. He denied that he did, three different times.

According to witnesses, Jesus had never been seen harming anyone. He spent 33 years of His life doing only good for the people around Him. They beat Him. It was a horrific event to see. The whips were swung until it seemed the soldier's arms would fall off, and then they would switch up. He bled, His skin was shredded, yet He never cursed at them. It was said that He took those stripes so that healing would be available to His people. "For by His stripes we are healed." 

The soldiers made fun of Him, and laughed at the fact that He had called Himself the "King of Kings." Placing a purple robe on Him, they made a crown of long, painful looking thorns and shoved it onto His head. Several of them hit Him in the head with sticks. They saluted Him sarcastically saying "Behold the King of the Jews!" The soldiers spit on Him, and then fell to their knees in mock worship, and stood to spit on Him again. Not until they had exhausted themselves of mocking Him did they finally lead Him away to be crucified. They placed a very large, heavy wooden cross on Jesus's shoulder and demanded that He carry it up Golgatha's Hill, to the town's crucifixion site. He finally fell under the strain, having lost so much blood from the torture which they made Him endure. A man named Simon, from Cyrene was made to carry the cross the rest of the way up the hill. Two thieves were also being crucified that day, however they were not tortured the way Jesus was.

After the beating He had already endured, the soldiers decided to nail Jesus to the cross. While masses of people who Jesus had came to earth to save screamed "Crucify Him!", soldiers nailed His arms and feet to the cross, each strike of the hammer echoed through the town. It was almost unbearable to see. They suspended Him in the air, between the two thieves. The usual custom is to break the legs of those being crucified, but they did not break His legs. He asked for something to drink, but they gave Him vinegar. One soldier stabbed Jesus in the side. Jesus suffered for quite a long time. At one point He was overheard asking "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?" Amazingly enough He still offered no curses or ill will to his torturers.

As He was dying, and looking down at those who had spat on Him, tortured Him, beaten Him, stabbed him in the side, shoved a crown made of thorns into His head, and nailed his arms and feet to a cross, which they then suspended Him from to die….as He hung between life and death watching His torturers, He offered no curses, no ill will, no hate. He only offered love with the words He prayed to God, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” As He gasped for His last few breaths, He could be heard saying "It is finished." Then Jesus died. His crucifixion was held at 9 am on Friday morning. Immediately the earth turned dark as night. Earthquakes shook the land, and lightening flashed angrily. One soldier shouted "Surely this was the Son of God!" The curtain in the temple, which kept man separated from God was ripped down the middle, forever allowing man to pray to God himself, and ask forgiveness for his own sins. No longer will a sacrifice by a high priest be necessary, for Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus's body was then taken to be buried. The soldiers made sure that the stone door of Jesus's tomb was sealed tightly.

Saturday was a sad day of mourning for Jesus's followers. Some of them finally fell alseep, exhausted on Saturday night. They woke to the screams of Mary Magdalene. She was insisting that Jesus was no longer in His grave! Apparently, sometime during the early morning hours, an angel rolled the stone away from the tomb, and Jesus woke up! He was resurrected from the dead in a miracle not seen since Lazareth. Although Thomas did not believe it at first, Jesus allowed him to touch the scars in His hands where the nails had been. Jesus had CAME to this earth knowing exactly what His sacrifice was to be. He SAW the condition of the world, and the sadness and sin in it. And He CONQUERED death, hell , and the grave. He gave His own life to be the sacrifice for sin, so that man could be forgiven.

He was resurrected on the first Easter Sunday, and after visiting with many of his followers, He ascended into heaven to be with His Father once again. He waits there for everyone who has accepted His gift of Salvation. His ultimate sacrifice was for everyone who has had breath since His was extinguished. The blood He shed was to cover the sin of man. If anyone wants to be forgiven for their sins and have the blood of Jesus cover their lives, He died to make that possible. The only requirements are to believe that He died on the cross for you. Pray to Him and ask Him to come into your heart and forgive you for your wrongdoings. Jesus did not teach people to judge. He did not even judge his torturers, He offered forgiveness and love. That is what Christianity is truly about. I suspect this day will go down in history, and people will be thanking Jesus for His great sacrifice for thousands of years to come. I am honored to have had the chance to witness these events, and wish to take a moment to thank Jesus for giving His life for me. Please watch the embedded video which portrays these events below.