CHANGING WARDENS

All over the Middle East revolutions are happening. It has been happening for centuries. One group or one religion doesn’t like the group in power so they start riots and kill huge numbers of civilians in an effort to overthrow their government. Other countries around the world choose up sides and support one side or the other. One dictator is deposed or killed and another one is installed. It’s like changing wardens in prison. You’re still in prison. Swapping dictators never means freedom. It only means oppression under a different dictator. Exchanging one form of oppression for another form of oppression is never freedom.

Oppression comes in many forms. There are certainly theological dictators. There are military dictators. There are even financial dictators. Consider, if you will, the very origins of our country. Many felt we were being oppressed by the British Crown. We were being taxed without having any representation. In other words, we had no say in the way our affairs should be handled. That famous rum smuggler, John Hancock, on the occasion of the British government confiscating his smuggling ship, Liberty, basically started the conversation which ultimately wound up with the creation of our Declaration of Independence. We informed King George that we were creating our own country and would henceforth handle our own affairs. The British, of course, took exception and it took two bloody wars before they finally decided maybe messing with us was a bad idea and they should just leave us alone and the rest is history. We didn’t just change wardens. We didn’t just change prison cells. We decided we would be free. Free to make our own decisions on taxation and spending. Free to choose our own representatives. Free to never again live under a monarch. So far, so good.

So, does the Middle East even want to be free? Do their women even want to go out in public dressed any way they want or to drive automobiles? Do they want to have the opportunity to sit down at coffee with a male who is not their husband without the worry of being stoned to death? Do the people want their female babies to continue to be surgically butchered in some twelfth century ritual? I don’t know the answer. I do know this though. Swapping dictators is not going to materially change their lives or their prospects. Theological oppression is still oppression. Whether your dictator claims to be representing God or just the government, it makes no difference. A dictator is still a dictator.

We are sending millions and millions of dollars in aid to the Middle East. In other words we, as taxpayers, are funding this theological oppression. It is doubtful that any of those third world countries could prosper or even exist without our aid.

What should be our responsibility? Should we care how they choose to live their lives? Should we care about their religious rituals? Should we have any say in their choice of government?

My preference is simple. Send them nothing. Let some other country support their nonsense. We have our own problems.  

In our country, when we are finished with our leaders, we don’t execute them. No, we give them a fat pension, let them write books, and attend ribbon cutting ceremonies. Then we freely elect their replacement. That’s a lot more civilized, don’t you think? Swapping out dictators is a lot like changing wardens. It doesn’t grant you freedom. It only guarantees a continuation of your oppression.

Ron Scarbro February 6, 2013