When Life and Liberty is a Crime

For Judge Death all life is crime
Does our Government feel the same way?

So with Neptune ploughing on into Pisces, I find my awareness shifting even further from its already loose connection with the mundane world, (if you are not of the Pisces tribe then it is hard for you to understand but think of how closely attuned our much beloved Bailhache, P. is to reality and you will get the drift). It is hard to care whether the electoral commission is independent or not. It is irrelevant, as is its membership, as will be its findings, as indeed is the entire States of Jersey. Getting caught up in it all is getting distracted from what is important.

King Alfred is the King who gave the Common Law to the people, he is also the King who bought the ten commandments into Common Law. Looking to the New Testament, Jesus refines them as follows - 

To love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices. (Mark 12:33)

It is hard to reconcile the above with the legal requirement to wear a seat belt or to park within white lines or to fill in form x by date y or the myriad of other equally meaningless obligations that the States of Jersey would seek to place upon us as 'civic duties'. So why do people think they are a great idea?

I have spoken to many people and every time I wonder why they blindly follow anything that the government tells them; I know the fear that exists in most people - fear of imprisonment, fear of infamy, fear of just about everything as far as I can see. The worst fear of all seems to be the fear of what will happen, of something going wrong, of interruption to the drudgery of daily life. It is this fear that has allowed the government to take an ever tighter grasp on our daily lives (well not me, but many people). The fear of getting sick, the fear of getting injured, the fear of losing your job, the fear of having to think for yourself. Government has gradually taken all these fears away from you - but at what cost.

You no longer fear getting ill, but it still happens, you no longer fear losing your job, but there is no safety net really. The fear of having to think for yourself, well at some point it is going to have to happen. I know people who are afraid to come off benefits because they are frightened that if they do not keep their job then they will not get their benefits back. You may no longer fear it, but bad things still happen.

Modern Western society is a crazy, crazy place. Simply for providing you with the illusion that you have nothing to worry about, are you willing to give up your liberties to the Government?

I remember sitting in my prison cell as the date of my release came close and asking to be kept in. I was safe in there, the health care in prison is second to none, I had a bed and regular food. But I overcame the fear, because that is what it was, the fear of giving up the safety of imprisonment and returning to battle in Court.

I did and I left many of the normal fears behind me, I have no fear of imprisonment, I have no fear of Courts, Police, infamy or any of the other fears that hold most people in check. I do not think it a coincidence that most of the world's great political leaders have been imprisoned Churchill, Gandhi, Adenhauer (first post WWII German Chancellor) etc.

Ignorance is bliss though.

I have previously written that all world religions are basically the same however I've changed my mind. There is in fact two distinct strands of religion in the world. The first is monotheism (Christianity, Judaism, Islam), the second is polytheism (Buddhism, Paganism, Hinduism, Mormon and I guess Humanist would slot in here too). The monotheistic religions teach that we are sinners who need to be saved, which is simply achieved just by asking God to save us, whilst the polytheistic religions hold that we are each a part of God and that it is through our own efforts that we achieve enlightenment or I guess a re-merging with the greater part of God. (What can I say I went to Catholic school, polytheism isn't really taught there so I apologise for any misunderstanding).

Under neither premise would it be wrong to make a choice that wasn't perfect but under both premises it would be wrong not to act at all. Making choices, yes even those that are less than perfect, is life. Being told what to do, when and how to do it, is not. Our government probably does believe that all life is crime!

Now I'm not saying you shouldn't consider your actions carefully and of course you have to accept the consequences of them, but as long as you follow the Common Law, which is as simple as it is comprehensive - And it harm none do as you will and do as your are say you are going to do - what does it matter what the government says?