The Open Society Is Dying

This is the title of an article I stumbled on while reviewing the news for pertinent information. Its pretty sobering:

The Open Society Is Dying

This commentary is well worth reading in full - here are a few quotes:

Today, tens of millions of frightened Americans are cheering as the U.S. government implements Big Brother security measures that are so extreme that they would have made even Stalin, Hitler and Mao cringe. But it is not just in America where the open society is dying. It is literally happening all over the globe. In a world where real and imagined terrorism is perceived to be the greatest threat, governments are increasingly feeling the need to watch, track, trace and control everyone and everything.

To an extent, our own technological advances have brought this situation about. Humanity has created awesome weapons of mass destruction that humanity simply does not have the moral capacity to handle. There are literally millions of people out there today who would use a weapon of mass destruction in a populated area if they could get their hands on one.

Now the truth is that the majority of people in the world are not prone to such violence, but when you are talking about weapons of mass destruction, it only takes one.

It would only take one nuke or chemical warhead or biological weapon set off in the middle of a major city to set off a worldwide panic.

But to protect ourselves against the weapons of mass destruction that we have created is it necessary to completely destroy our liberty and freedom?

That is the path on which we are headed.

In the name of "security", we have pushed freedom of speech into special "free speech zones" at public events. These "free speech zones" often resemble little more than prison cages. The truth is that we are only a couple of steps away from eliminating free speech altogether. Already, Christians are being arrested in various areas across the United States for quietly passing out literature on public sidewalks. How long will it be until we have absolutely no freedom to say whatever we want? How soon will it be until websites like this are totally shut down?

Already, it is a well known fact that the U.S. government filters all electronic communications (including all of your phone calls and all of your emails) through a complex computerized filtering system. The goal is to scan all communications for certain keywords, and to intervene before a "threat" can materialize.

Now searching for "homegrown American terrorists" is as big a part of the "mission" as searching for al-Qaeda is

Thats the background - and the article continues with some specific examples of the loss of basic freedoms:

For example, organic milk is now considered such a threat that the FDA has been conducting military style raids on Amish farmers in the state of Pennsylvania.

Are Amish farmers now as big a threat as al-Qaeda?

Things are really getting weird.

Barack Obama is pushing a plan to create a national database that will store the DNA of all individuals who have been arrested but not necessarily convicted of a crime.

Would you like your DNA to be forcibly taken and put into Barack Obama's secret database for the rest of your life?

Not only that, but U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham have been promoting legislation that would institute a biometric national identification card for all Americans.

Are you ready for a national ID card?

Did you ever think the day would come when security officials in the United States of America could pull you aside and ask you for "your papers please"?

In addition, new legislation that was being promoted by U.S. Senators John McCain and Joe Lieberman would allow the U.S. military to round up large numbers of Americans and detain them indefinitely without a trial if they are believed to "pose a threat" or if they have "potential intelligence value" or for any other reason that the President of the United States "considers appropriate".

Talk about tremendous potential for abuse!

Under such a law, any American could be picked up for any reason whatsoever!

But the state of Florida has taken things even farther. The Florida State Department of Juvenile Justice will now start using analysis software to predict crime by young delinquents, putting "potential offenders" under specific prevention and education programs.

Perhaps you thought that "pre-crime" was just for science fiction movies.

Just check out the video news report about TSA security abuse posted below. Yes, we do need security at our airports, but do TSA officials have to act like Nazi thugs to get their jobs done? Do they have to treat us like dehumanized cattle? Is it not possible to keep everyone safe and still leave us with a few shreds of dignity? What you are about to watch will have your jaw on the floor....

OK, I just realized that I am posting most of the article. But this is so important. Most of us (including myself) haven't really noticed, because like the frog placed in warming water, which ultimately comes to a boil, never notices because of the gradual increase in temperature. Similarly, this has been such a gradual process, over so many years - we barely take notice. But upon reflection, and putting this information together in one bolus - it becomes very ominous indeed.

More:

But things are about to get even worse. The new full body security scanners going into airports all across the United States can actually see through clothing and produce very clear and very detailed images of the exposed bodies of everyone who walks through them.

So are you willing to let gawking security officials examine your entire naked body just so that you can get on an airplane?

What happens when these scanners start going into bus, train and subway stations all across the United States?

Is it inevitable that we must be treated like a herd of human cattle that does not deserve any privacy or any dignity?

But if one weapon of mass destruction goes off anywhere in the world, the cry for even greater Big Brother security measures will become absolutely deafening. It seems as though today people are willing to give up just about anything in order to feel safe and secure.

Not that security is a bad thing.

But if we have to give up all of our liberty and all of our freedom and if we are forced to live in a closed Big Brother police state just to feel safe, what does that say about us?

The open society is dying.

Liberty is dying.

Freedom is dying.

If you plan on standing up and saying anything about what is happening to society, now is the time.

You may have seen the video clip in which there were two screens being shown simultaneously: On one side was a people going through airport screening, with the body pat down and the scanners etc., and on the other screen was footage of people entering concentration camps (during WWII) and going through a very similar "examination" process, with the same "pat downs" and the same basic procedure. Very sobering indeed.

And again, as mentioned so many times - its all preparation and conditioning which is fully necessary for people to accept what will be imposed during the Tribulation. The world is being prepared for the Tribulation and all of the horrors which will be implemented during this period.

Lets not forget what Jesus said, in reference to the Tribulation:

"For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equaled again. If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive..." (Matthew 24:21)

We can thank God that we won't have to be part of this. It is coming and coming soon. We're just seeing the preparation phase. The water is starting to boil and no one even notices - except, of course, the group of prophecy watchers.