The Rising Tide of Petty Tyranny
One of the bands which played on Saturday night was Cordero, from New York City.
They said something which quite moved me: that in New York it is illegal
to dance or smoke in a club—and therefor they begged us all
smoke and dance, because you never know when someone’s going to
take it away.
It really makes one thing, and it really gets down to the nitty-gritty of the subject: authoritarian legislation is all about taking, all about enslaving. And it makes one think how sad that folks, rather than rising in armed insurrection against such evil, merely accept it mildly, as something inevitable. But oppression is never inevitable: it requires the acquiescence of the oppressed.
To quote Ari Armstrong (originally on the subject of drinking laws):
What we are talking about precisely is fascism. Not the fascism of the death camps, but a banal, tedious, petty fascism that slowly leaches the spirit of freedom from the American soul.
That’s exactly what it is. Sure, anti-smoking laws are not as evil as death camps and secret police—but they’re still evil. I am not exaggerating here: they are denials of liberty, and liberty is simply respect for the free will with which our God has endowed us. Authoritarianism is thus the denial of free will, and inimical to the Christian.
Ironically, this was also the first time I have ever in my life been surrounded by smokers, and wished they’d extinguish their cigarettes. For whatever reason, they smelled absolutely foul that night. But I, being a respecter of liberty, would never demand that anyone be forced to cease smoking in my presence.
