By Dr. Jim Ferguson
There are many casualties of the Wuhan flu, “modern” liberalism and leftist philosophy. No, in this war in which we find ourselves, I cannot be reserved and politically correct. Going along to get along with the cancel culture crowd only emboldens the mob and tyranny. Daily I pray for strength and courage to resist, yet “speak the truth in love” with reasoned common sense.

More than 600,000 people have already died as a result of the virus which escaped China’s virology lab in Wuhan, China. We may never know all the casualties of this scourge. The destruction of America’s economy, which resulted from the advice of experts and computer models, is an ongoing casualty. History teaches that civilization has never been shut down by an epidemic. And the casualties continue to mount as we follow the dictates of pernicious politicians.

I would hate to be invested in rental space in New York or any metropolis or, for that matter, University of Tennessee housing. People and companies may find they no longer need expensive office space in, for instance, New York, which often necessitates long commutes for workers. Now the workers can just log in from home.

Unfortunately, the church is also a casualty from the withering attacks of those who now march under the ensign of safety. Do you remember four months ago we were told to shelter in place for two weeks to “bend the curve” and prevent overwhelming the medical system? Now, the “mission” has changed.  Even medical practices are failing, overdoses and alcoholism have increased because NA and AA meetings have been closed and depression is skyrocketing. The new cry for safety has become a cudgel and the latest in a series of attacks on Trump and the American way of life.

Democrats and some teachers’ unions are even willing to sacrifice the education of children in their lust for political power and the sick hatred of Trump. Children need their teachers and they need other children far more than any pseudo education from a computer screen. I teach medical students at Lincoln Memorial University and I can tell you that you cannot teach young doctors how to feel a liver or listen to heart sounds in a Zoom session. You must be capable and willing to do homeschooling. The current online method of expediency is a farce. And you must be a fool if you’re still willing to pay $50,000 a year for online classes at Harvard.

Historically, education’s goal was to teach children the basic tools for rational thought and discourse. The educational focus was “the seven liberal arts,” divided into the trivium and quadrivium. It was important to learn how to speak correctly and persuasively, so the trivium emphasized grammar, logic and rhetoric, somewhat akin to grammar schools. The quadrivium was for more advanced study in secondary schools and encompassed more science-based courses in arithmetic, astronomy for navigation, geometry and music to appreciate its aesthetics and mathematical basis. Educational common sense has become a casualty in modernity as indoctrination with diversity training and sex education compete with teaching kids to actually think.

Teaching is a hands-on profession. Several years ago, I wrote “There is no keystroke for caring.” Some teachers’ unions and university professors are now refusing to return to work and teach, abrogating their professional responsibility and abandoning their students. What hypocrites. They expect doctors to treat them if they are sick and the police to protect them from the mob. Since everyone screams you must “follow the science,” the death rate in children with COVID-19 is less than the death rate from influenza. The same cannot be said for this columnist in his 70th orbit of the sun. Perhaps some dinosaur professors should also just retire to their basement along with Joe Biden.

Perhaps the most profound casualty of fifty years of liberalism is the loss of any cohesive American philosophy. America came together to fight and win the Second World War. With the 911 attacks in 2001 that spirit resurfaced, but like seeds thrown among rocks (Jesus’ parable), the flower of liberty quickly wilted.

Now, I doubt that Joe Biden’s handlers and I could find anything in common. Casualties of the Democrat party’s extreme shift to the left to embrace Bernie Sanders’ socialist agenda includes sacrificing the sanctity of life, border integrity and paying lip service to Chinese hegemony.

I’ve written about this before, but it is important to re-emphasize that there is a big difference between liberals and leftists. Unfortunately, too many people are unaware that leftists, like Antifa, BLM and AOC’s mob, espouse anti-capitalism, open borders, divisiveness of racial politics and intolerance of any speech that differs from their perspective.  Classical liberalism of the Enlightenment Founders is different from “modern” liberals who are actually progressive socialists. I have liberal friends who, like me, are conservative in their belief in national borders, free speech (even if it’s stupid), free enterprise and capitalism, and think skin color is irrelevant. In fact, if you see bias in skin color, you are by definition a racist.

Unfortunately, many Democrat liberals have encouraged leftists, believing they can use and control the mob of anti-American anarchists. Robespierre, of the French Revolution, also thought he could control the mob. The mob soon turned on him and took off his head. Pelosi and Biden should be wary of history’s great lessons. They are playing with fire, but perhaps they are powerless to resist AOC’s Squad and the leftists who have taken over the Democrat Party, which is no longer democratic.

So, where do we go from here? The options are surrender and appeasement or to run away. I am convinced there’s no place to run. The only option is resistance. I will not be marching in protest, burning and looting, or using the F-bomb as an adjective or verb to denigrate others, who only do so because they have already lost the rational argument.

As my wife Becky and I said last week in our 20/20 essay, it is time to stand up and be counted. It is time to speak out and push back against the darkness and the insanity. Citizens, you must do your duty for God and country and those you love and serve.