It is not an accident that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution begins with the guarantee that the people have the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. In his Farewell Address to the nation, George Washington noted that:
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and citizens, the mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and the cherish them.”
The duty to govern one’s self according to the dictates of their own conscious is inseparable from their duty to live according to the Divine will of the Creator as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. As Washington added, “and let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion…reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principle.”
The founders of our state held the same deep-seated convictions. This very fact was enumerated in the Preamble our own state constitution:
“Invoking the guidance of Almighty God, in order to secure and perpetuate the blessing of liberty; to secure just and rightful government; to promote our mutual welfare and happiness, we, the people of the State of Oklahoma, do ordain and establish this Constitution.”
Invoking the guidance of Almighty God means, at it’s very core, taking it upon ourselves to govern our own lives according to that guidance. Our founders believed that doing this was absolutely essential to securing and perpetuating “the blessing of liberty.” As such, any law, whether state or local, that would interfere with or seek to controvert our right to govern our own lives by the dictates of our own conscious runs afoul of this most basic foundation of our Republic.
By passing this mask mandate, Mayor Holt and Co., have made it clear that they don’t think we, the people of Oklahoma, have the right to govern our lives according to our own deeply held beliefs and principles. They don’t think we have the right to decide for ourselves how to best care for our health. They think they have to do it for us. Such a notion is absolutely repugnant to a free society. They don’t have the right to decide whether or not we can be trusted. It’s not their life. It’s not their health. It’s ours.