Cruel Government
In the Old Testament we read of nations, such as Babylon, that were fierce in their conquering of others. When God told Habakkuk that he was raising up the Chaldeans to punish Judah, He said of them: "They all come for violence; their faces are like the east wind, they gather captives like sand" (Hab. 1:9). Governments have also oppressed their own people in various ways. Rehoboam intended to do so with taxes (1 Kings 12:1-24). In Israel, the righteous were sold for silver and the poor for a pair of sandals (Amos 2:6). Isn't it far better to be living in a nation where such things don't happen? Or do they? Some will remember the horrible occurrence at Ruby Ridge in 1992, but how many know the following recent event?
In March of this year, Bryan Maliboski, the executive director of the Bill and Hilary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, Arkansas, was killed by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) during a pre-dawn raid of his home. It was an unwarranted and indefensible killing of a kind that should never, ever happen in a free country like the United States (1).
All the details of what occurred are related in the August 2024 issue of Imprimis, which claims a readership of more than 6,600,000. It is a publication of Hillsdale College, a conservative school in Hillsdale, Michigan. The author of this article, Ryan Cleckner, is a graduate of Arizona State University with a J.D. from the Quinnipiac University School of Law. But there are more instances like this one reported in his article. Who is authorizing raids against prominent citizens? Furthermore, after unjustly killing Mr. Maliboski, his wife was forcibly removed from her house in her nightgown and made to wait four hours in 34 degree weather despite repeated pleas to use the restroom. On a recording from a police vehicle, she is heard sobbing, "asking why they killed her husband, and insisting that the agents must have the wrong house because she and her husband are honest, law-abiding people."
How many of us have heard this news story? Why haven't we? Once upon a time, reporters actually informed the public of the overreach of government; now they remain silent, giving more emphasis to Halloween than citizens having survived—or even died—in harrowing events that should never have occurred. Our government is not supposed to be oppressive! The news media seems ineffective and practically useless in failing to report this sorrowful event—the result of excessive government force. No one has been held accountable for Maliboski's death. No, we don't know who is responsible, but God does. On the Day of Judgment, one agent will need to give account for this murder. Along with others who are silent.