Thanksgiving, more than any other American holiday, is a family holiday. No matter their religious heritage, on this day, Americans unite in giving thanks
for their many blessings. Families long scattered gather together to share food and make memories. In years past, the day before Thanksgiving was always
the busiest travel day of the year.
Not so much this year. This Thanksgiving, some governors are going wild with COVID restrictions. Some state governments are telling us how many people
we can have at the Thanksgiving table. Some states won’t let anyone enter without a negative COVID test, or a two-week self-quarantine. Pennsylvania announced new restrictions ten days before Thanksgiving, disrupting thousands of people’s plans.
Some of the virus-containment rules are blatantly biased. The Mayor of San Francisco tried to limit church attendance in the massive cathedral there to one person at a time. Also in California, a judge lifted restrictions on strip clubs, considering them protected free speech. But churches in the same jurisdiction are closed for indoor services.
In the meantime, some of these self-appointed dictators transgress their own rules. California Governor Gavin Newsome was recently caught dining at one of the most exclusive and expensive restaurants in the state in direct violation of rules he himself had established.
And let’s not forget Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her infamous unmasked trip to a beauty salon.
But sanity will eventually prevail. Thanksgiving is a family holiday and the family is bigger than government. Yes, there are risks involved in travel
and gatherings. Yes, some people become very sick from COVID. Some even die. But many people who contract the virus have modest symptoms or no symptoms
at all. The vast majority of people recover fully. We now know that contracting COVID is not a death sentence.
The experts who are advising the governments are single-minded in their focus on reducing numbers of cases. They cannot see the collateral damage to other
legitimate aspects of human thriving.
- The elderly people who waste away from loneliness.
- The addicts who can’t go to their 12-Step meetings and relapse and lose their sobriety.
- The unemployed who become depressed and even suicidal.
- The small business owners who have a lifetime of effort wiped out.
Most of all, the so-called experts don’t take account of the divisions their sometimes-arbitrary rules have created. Families and friends are quarreling
over who cares the most about other people.
- “If you really cared about grandma’s health, you’d wear a mask and stay home.”
- “If you really cared about the future we are leaving our children, you’d fight the governmental takeover of all of social life.”
And so on. Not only are we physically isolated. We are also psychologically isolated from people we love, work with and do business with.
One thing is for sure: these divisions are not natural. These conflicts are driven by the propaganda-artists in the media. Are they trying to pit us against
each other? I don’t know that. But, let me stand this rhetoric on its head and speak directly to the media and others responsible for creating this
current climate of fear and division.
- If you really cared about our health, you would have encouraged people to take vitamin supplements that boost our immune systems at modest cost.
- If you really cared about our health, you would have encouraged people to lose weight. We’ve known for some time that obesity is a risk factor for complications from COVID, as it is for respiratory diseases in general. If you had applied yourself to persuading people to lose weight instead
of scaring them to death, a lot of people would have lost a lot of weight by now and been much healthier overall. - Speaking of scaring people to death, if you really cared about our health, you wouldn’t be. You would be leading a media campaign to “stay calm and
carry on,” as the British did during WWII. - If you really cared about our health, you would be leading by example, suffering in the trenches alongside everyone else, instead of standing on your
privileged positions and flouting your own edicts.
As I say, the family is bigger than government. In fact, the family existed long before there were governments. The Bible tells us that humanity started
with the family. The Ruth Institute is an international interfaith coalition to defend the family and build
a civilization of love. Our coalition includes Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Evangelicals and Pentecostals, Mormons and observant Jews. I can
tell you that we are united in this one point at least: God created the family in the Garden of Eden. He created the Cosmos, the plants and animals,
men and women. And finally, He created the first social institution: the married couple.
Every totalitarian movement of the past 100 years has despised and feared the family. That’s because the family can stand on its own and is a potential
threat to any totalitarian plan. Every little household created by a man and a woman can sustain itself, provide for itself and protect itself. Fathers
are natural authority figures. Mothers are natural objects of loyalty and affection. Totalitarian governments hate both.
In my book, The Sexual State, I pointed out that as members of a free society, we don’t want a “ruling
class.” We want and need, a leadership class. It has become sadly clear that too many of the Elites are rulers, not leaders. In my decades of studying
the Sexual Revolution, I have concluded that virtually every profession has been corrupted by that toxic ideology. Doctors who can’t figure when life
begins or whether a boy can become a girl. Lawyers who happily use the law, not for justice, but as an ideological battering ram. Librarians and schoolteachers
with agendas that undermine the wishes and authority of parents. It would not surprise me to learn that corruption I know about in these professions
is not the only arena in which ideology trumps truth and science and justice.
I speak now to educated people, professional people, anyone with skills or authority or influence: I call upon you to use these gifts for the common good.
The Elites, including the billionaires, the Tech Moguls, the politicians and the media, rely on you to implement their policies.
They need you to supply technical knowledge and to keep systems running. They need you to actually
see patients and go to court and choose library books and decide what the school play will be.
I call on you: Become servant leaders, not tools of the Ruling Class. When you see untruth or deception or corruption in your
sphere of influence, don’t let it slide. Do something about it.
And everyone: do keep this one thought in mind: The family was created by God. Governments were created by man. God is infinite and everlasting. Governments
are finite and fleeting. Only the family endures. We will outlast any government.
On that note, I’m off to start making pies for my family’s Thanksgiving feast. I’m Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, for the Ruth Institute, wishing you all a very blessed Thanksgiving Day.
