Lately there has been, as most people have noticed, many natural disasters that have greatly impacted the lives of thousands of people. Unfortunately, the nature of a hurricane or earthquake is not to help, but to harm; and the same is to be said for tyranny. 
Trenchard and Gordon have said that tyrants “live by the destruction of mankind.” Livy declared that the tyrants are “the flames that are burning you now.” Algernon Sidney taught that there is no peace “when the government instituted for the good of a nation be turned to it’s ruin”. Lastly, Pufendorf warned that, “more inhumanity to man has been done by man himself than any other of nature’s causes.” The winds will blow, and the ground will shake, and sadly, there is nothing we can do about that, but tyranny can have a long lasting affect that is much more dangerous than anything the world can throw at us, and we can stop that. All of the men mentioned above, and so many more, have preached of the destructive nature of tyranny and warned of the damage it’s storms can cause. Tyranny causes knowledge to blow away, and discourages those who go after it; it pours out food and entertainment that distract us from liberty and truth; and it, as mentioned in last week’s post, makes virtuous things look wicked and things that are wicked look good. 

While it truly is heartbreaking to see the devastating consequences of the earth’s storms, we must remember that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against wickedness in high places”, (Ephesians 6:12). These things are hard. No one will ever deny that. But in the end, the storm you have to endure will make you stronger. The tyranny that threatens us may just be the exact thing we need to prove our virtue. The rain and wind is temporary, but the consequences of tyranny will last forever if we choose to let it be. However, if we fight for liberty, and prove our virtue, the blessings for doing so will be eternal as well and will be well worth the effort and sacrifice. 

Yours truly,

Publius