Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death!

So cried Patrick Henry as the closing words of his immortal speech on this day in 1775, on the very eve of the American Revolution, rousing his complacent compatriots – or soon to be compatriots – to bold action against the perceived tyranny of the British monarchy:

What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Henry was not the first, nor the last, to hold that a life of freedom was to be preferred to the living death of slavery and oppression. Live free or die! as New Hampshirites proclaim; or, at least, their licence plates.

Readers may recall the opposite defeatist rallying cry during the Cold War, ‘Better Red than Dead’. Submit to the Communist yoke, so to avoid war and bloodshed, and even the possibility of nuclear annihilation. But like most dilemmas, this was a false one, as Pope Saint John Paul II, Reagan and others proved by bringing down the ‘evil empire’ by peaceful means, and the weight of the sheer disastrous dysfunctionality of ‘communism’. As Margaret Thatcher aptly put it, socialism works fine until you run out of other people’s money.

What now of Marx’s evil system as embodied in China, set to take over the world in a way that Russia could only imagine? As one commentator put it, the Chinese politburo has developed the only economically viable version of communism, predicated on cheap goods made by legions of slaves – or quasi-slaves – on which the rest of the world depends, and which has made us rich – so far. But they may be ready soon to pull the plug.

So, is it better to adopt the modus vivendi of Communist China, and keep them placable?

We need not stretch the analogy to apply this also to our current response to Covid, linked, of course, to the same evil regime. Is life so dear and sweet to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Today marks the anniversary of Boris Johnson’ putting Britain into lockdown and universal house arrest, from which most of the island nation(s) have never come out, as limits on and intrusions into the most private aspects of life, from religion, to property, community, speech, writing, gathering, education, right down to the very core of the family, continue unabated, with no relief in sight. Almost every one of our rights has been practically abolished.

Our motto now seems rather Take my liberty – all of it, leave me locked in a basement – but keep me safe, at all costs…keep me safe!. Which does not have quite the same rousing revolutionary ring.

Give me liberty or give me death. Words to live by – however metaphorically we may take them.

Carney’s Amoral Majority

After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→

A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop

As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→

Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk

(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]Continue reading→

A Tale of Two Benedicts

A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→

Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk

As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→

The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus

As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→

Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace

Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→

Payette’s Payout

I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→

Saint Stanislaus of Szczepanów

We celebrate Saint Stanislaus today (+ April 11, 1079), in light of this Easter Octave, a bishop and martyr who accepted the episcopacy only at the direct order of Pope Alexander II. He proved a wise and courageous leader of his flock, put to death by his own king, Boleslaus, for rebuking the monarch’s ‘immoral[…]Continue reading→