ABOUT FAITH & FREEDOM

Thursday, February 03, 2022

God Bless the Truckers

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Truckers at the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa say they will stay put until they are confident the Canadian government will roll back federal vaccine and mask mandates---even though the temperature is below freezing.

Are they really that opposed to masks and shots?

Not really. It's about much more than that.

When US truckers organized last week to follow Canadian truckers and organize their own "DC Freedom Convoy" here in the US, their experience was a living demonstration of why the truckers are doing what they're doing.

Be informed, not misled.

"O Canada."

The Canadian convoy began Jan. 23 and culminated with hundreds of thousands of demonstrators arriving in Ottawa, Canada's capital, last Saturday to protest government mandates.

Many of the truckers have remained parked in the same places since the weekend in below-freezing temperatures, honking their horns and revving their engines.

Travis, one of the truckers, says "People want change. They feel that we are their last hope because nobody else is listening. We're listening and we are here."

Another trucker, Eric, says "Until we get the confidence that our government has heard us and is willing to make changes for the people, we're not leaving, we're not going anywhere."

Andrew, another trucker, says, "When [Canadian President Justin Trudeau] says he's going to lift all mandates, I will gladly go home to be with my family, my grandkids, my pets."

Truckers are real people living in the real world. When they hear their anthem "O Canada," they proudly stand up, even if that means driving their truck across the country in a convoy and sitting in freezing weather for days waiting for their elected officials to discover their real world.

They hold dear their National Anthem:

O Canada! "Our home and native land! True patriot love in all of us command. With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free! From far and wide, O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. God keep our land glorious and free. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee. O Canada, we stand on guard for thee."

Some are calling this effort a "toxic freedom convoy, that must be confronted head-on."

Contributing columnist, David Moscrop, writing in the Washington Post says:

Those taking part are on their way, ostensibly, to protest pandemic measures, including vaccine mandates for truckers, but that’s just the tip of the spear. The leadership of the group is promising to remain peaceful, but the convoy is made up of many individuals and far-right groups that have embraced the convoy as a Canadian version of the Jan. 6 rioting in the United States.

Time and time again we learn the lesson or at least come across it, that teaches us that rage-soaked antigovernment types can’t be reasoned with. This time around, the convoy has produced an incoherent “memorandum of understanding” premised upon a misunderstanding of government and absurd demands..... It’s the product of a temper tantrum. 

The convoy is, by and large, a fringe group — an unfortunate minority in which a further minority of insidious extremists lurk. They are bolstered by support from Conservative politicians and certain blustery media voices....they are true threats to liberty.

Canada’s response to the convoy should be a strict line of resistance that doubles down on, or in certain cases at least introduces, commitments to anti-hate resistance, pandemic supports, vaccine mandates, and a media policy of refusing to platform, humanize, or, God forbid, glorify the convoy and its members beyond the bare necessity of speaking to their existence and outlining a program for pushing back.

The convoy speaks of threats to liberty. It would be close to something if the participants weren’t so far off. Threats to liberty are rampant in Canada, but not because of vaccine mandates. Rather, it is income and wealth inequality; worker exploitation; gendered, religious, racialized and other forms of hate violence; ongoing settler colonialism; and other forms of structural marginalization and oppression that compromise liberty. Same as it ever was.

The “Freedom Convoy,” Moscrop concludes, is a toxic, regrettable movement.

It isn't just the Washington Post, Trudeau himself is also demonizing the truckers saying he would prefer to attend a BLM protest.

Really?

One of the truck drivers---Andrew, says: "We're all brothers in this together, and we're here for one cause, and that's the fight for the freedoms of Canadians and for Canada itself."

Mat, who has been parked directly outside the Parliament building, says he is demonstrating for every Canadian's freedom."

He says, "Whatever it is that you decide to do, we're not anti-vax, we're not anti-anything other than anti-mandate...the message is freedom for every Canadian."

Travis says, "Give people their freedom back. Give people their lives back. We want freedom. We want our Canada back."

I'm having a difficult time finding the toxic convoy that must be confronted head-on. I don't see it.

Apparently, the US truckers are also "toxic."

US truckers are censored before they can spread their "toxic" ideas about freedom.


America truckers are following Canada's lead and organizing a protest against vaccine mandates. The group titled, "Convoy to DC 2022," acts as a place for truckers to plan and coordinate their trek from California to Washington DC.

Mark Zuckerberg didn't need to write a column in the Washington Post---he merely needed to remove them from Facebook to stop the planning and coordinating. And he did just that on Wednesday.

Jeremy Johnson, who set up the Facebook account for the group, says when they took down the "Convoy to DC" page, they also took down his personal Facebook account.

Johnson says, "They like to silence people when they speak the truth."

Indeed they do.

Johnson and some of his trucker friends have hired a lawyer and are figuring out what the next step should be.

A spokesman for Facebook's parent company "Meta" gave this statement to Fox News-- "We have removed this group for repeatedly violating our policies around QAnon." 

Fox says in October 2020, Facebook labeled QAnon a "violence-inducing conspiracy network." 

Truckers Johnson and Brase are laughing at Facebook's characterization of them and other truckers. They say they anticipate a wide range of Americans---not only truckers, will come out to support their cause.

The trucker's cause is not really about a shot. It's about the government forcing a person to get a shot.

It's about freedom of choice. I'm sure the progressives understand that principle---they've chanted it a hundred times at their local pro-abortion rally. However, they've chosen to view this choice differently.

Takeaway

Remember the late, great Paul Harvey's piece titled, "So God Made a Farmer?" 

Perhaps it's time for a similar piece titled, "So God made a trucker."

It could begin like this: 

On the 8th day, God looked down on our beautiful communities and said I need somebody willing to work hard, risk their lives and travel the backroads to create a supply chain for people. So He created a trucker.

God said I need somebody willing to rise early and work late and sleep on the road in the back of the cab to deliver Cheerios to kids so they can have a healthy breakfast, so He created a trucker.

God said I need someone to press through the night to deliver medicine to those whose life depends on it. And deliver Christmas gifts to the little one who anticipates it, so He made a trucker.

And God said I need someone who will stand up for what is right---for freedom and liberty when both are under attack, so He made a trucker.

You get the idea.

Watch this video from the other morning, when truckers were being threatened for taking a stand for freedom. Watch their response. Hold the picture of these guys praying the Lord's prayer in your mind today.  Then tell me theirs is a "regrettable movement that needs to be denounced and resisted."

God bless the trucker.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged. Be Prayerful.