Vogelfrei: Stop the Tyranny of Declaring People “Fair Game”

In 1521 the papal powers of the time tried to force Dr. Martin Luther to shut up. He had written numerous critiques of the abuses and lies of that same papal power, and he was ordered to recant.

“Unless you can give me proof from Scripture or clear reason that I’m in the wrong, if I retract my writings I would only be strengthening tyranny. Therefore, I won’t recant. It would be neither safe nor right to go against my conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other,” replied the man of truth.

At that time Luther was under the aegis of the Holy Roman Empire, which, as they say, was neither Holy nor Roman nor an Empire. It’s so-called Emperor, Charles V declared Luther a dangerous heretic, and therefore vogelfrei—free as a bird. Today we might call such a person “fair game.” Anyone could kill Luther with impunity.

Oh yes, words are power. In German Vogel means bird, and frei means free.

In the world before Luther made his stand vogelfrei meant unbound, or free of feudal restrictions. Something like what we think of as free as a bird, to travel, move your home, make a living where you can.

But around Luther’s time it had lately come to mean something entirely different, and bleak. People of power, who didn’t care much for people below them in station to be free as a bird in that glorious sense, framed the word differently. For them vogelfrei now meant free of any rights or protections that government can give. Free of protected status. Free of rights. Free to be shot and killed by anyone else without being investigated or reported or sanctioned by the powers that be.

The decree was called the Edict of Worms. The hand behind it was Charles V. And behind that was the hand of Pope Leo X. The result of the Edict, and the tyranny behind it was that Europe was divided and plunged into decades of war. All  because people who wanted to live their convictions were summarily decreed to be vogelfrei.

Today one more person, standing up for his convictions, was killed on the streets of Minneapolis. This man was a 37-year-old intensive care nurse. People who knew him say he was well respected and good at his job. One neighbor said he was a pleasant, gentle man who would often walk his dog around their Minneapolis neighborhood, greeting people along the way.

But there is a tyranny that is growing in this nation. And the leaders of this tyranny, within hours of the execution of this man, declared him a bad man, a domestic terrorist, a would-be assassin.

In other words, vogelfrei.

Of course he was held down by several federal agents and shot several times. Certainly all the the facts are not known. There is much to learn. But it is also well documented now that those of the tyranny have instantly declared him vogelfrei, and their assumption is that those who killed him owed him nothing but death.

Just four days ago our Tyrant in Chief, during two hours of mumbled and fumbled self-congratulation, flipped through a made-for-TV batch of placards on which were pictured a gallery of dark-skinned men with facial hair. Each of the men were human beings. The Bible tells us each are children of God, no matter their sins. Our nation’s Declaration of Independence says that each is “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” and that it is a legitimate government’s job to secure those rights.

But each of those placards, in huge bold letters, simply labeled each of them “The Worst of the Worst.” The Tyrant in Chief so decreed, and then said God should be proud of him for such declarations of vogelfrei.

The present tyranny that waves its hand and declares whole populations of people “The Worst of the Worst,” is calling them vogelfrei--without any rights at all. This tyranny is flooding our nation with craven and ill prepared federal agents and telling them the people in the streets protesting also have no rights. They do not deserve to stand up for their convictions if they get in the way. They are not human and not worthy of any protections at all. They are free as birds that can be shot without question and without consequence.

We have been told not to call this fascism. But it certainly is tyranny. If the good people of Minneapolis can be shot, and the shooters have no one to answer to, then any of us may suddenly find ourselves just as free.

Let’s not argue about whether this is or is not fascism raising its head. There is no doubt it is tyranny. Legitimate government secures rights. Tyranny takes them away.

All of us must make our stand. All of us must demand this tyranny is inhumane, un-Christian, and anti-American. And it must end now!