THE BLOG

A few weeks ago when it became obvious to Americans that the COVID-19 virus was something to be taken seriously, a most amazing thing happened in the US.  Americans began a run on toilet paper along with other items which each deemed a necessity. At the end of that first week of binge purchases of TP, in his weekly sermon our pastor told of a cartoon he’d seen that week.  In the cartoon a man who had just been told by his doctor that he had tested positive for the virus, declared, “But Doc, there’s no way I can have the virus. I have 300 rolls of toilet paper in my house.”

On Wednesday, February 26, 2020, my father, who had turned 98 just two days before, passed into eternity. In many respects my father was a remarkable man. Prior to having a mild heart attack in October 2019, my father still lived alone, still cut his own grass with a push mower, and still cooked his own meals. But as remarkable as that was, there was something else that qualified him as such.

Americans have fought and died for what our Declaration of Independence describes as three inalienable rights–life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. By inalienable we mean that these rights cannot be taken away from us nor can we ourselves give them away. Why? Because each is a natural right built into us at conception. In other words they are God-given. What is interesting to observe is the subtle elevation in the last decade or so of another element of life to the status of inalienable.