Americans are concerned about their right to privacy as government spying on citizens and intrusion into our private lives has increased. But it didn’t happen overnight. On April 25, 2000, President Bill Clinton signed into law Public Law 106-185, setting up the framework for property seizure as a political tool and also to fund over zealous police forces. Section C parts 2 and 3 says the government can use evidence from a “complaint” to justify seizing the property upon “theory” that it was involved in a criminal offense. Section d part 1 says that the property owner has the burden of proof of innocence in court to retrieve his property. In 2011 alone, the White House used this statute to seized a record $1.8 billion in property.
On June 6, 2013 the UK Guardian interviewed NSA Whistleblower Edward Snowdon who had this to say: “The government has granted itself power it is not entitled to. There is no public oversight. The result is people like myself have the latitude to go further than they are allowed to…Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, you’re being watched and recorded. …it’s getting to the point where you don’t have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody, even by a wrong call, and then they can use this system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you’ve ever made, every friend you’ve ever discussed something with, and attack you on that basis, to sort of derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone in the context of a wrong doer.”
The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” Government has been taking great liberty to suppress your liberty. Probable cause must be supported by oath, affirmation and particular description and inscribed by warrant. Where are your Constitutional rights if government can record your every movement and seize your property from a mere complaint or theory? This must change. Yet, our elected leaders insist on chasing false narratives to stall badly needed changes to protect our rights.
Snowdon went on to say: “The great fear that I have regarding the outcome for America of these disclosures is that nothing will change. [People] won’t be willing to take the risks necessary to stand up and fight to change things… And in the months ahead, the years ahead, it’s only going to get worse. [The NSA will] say that… because of the crisis, the dangers that we face in the world, some new and unpredicted threat, we need more authority, we need more power, and there will be nothing the people can do at that point to oppose it. And it will be turnkey tyranny.” Galatians 5:1 says, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” In my opinion, it is not in the best interest of spreading the gospel or of overcoming evil to live under tyranny.
