William de Berg, Give Us Barabbas!
William de Berg
“What is truth?” Pilate asked. And having said this, he went out again to the Jews and told them, “I find no basis for a charge against Him. But it is your custom that I release to you one prisoner at the Passover. So then, do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?” “Not this man,” they shouted, “but Barabbas!” (John 18:38-40)
In the accepted Christian narrative, Jesus is brought before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who finds nothing to charge Jesus with. But the crowd demands that the customary prisoner release during the Passover be the thief (or insurrectionist, depending on the translation) Barabbas rather than Jesus, who has not harmed anyone but merely challenged the authority of the Jewish leadership. In the end, Pilate relents and Jesus is sentenced to crucifixion.
The outcome of Jesus’ brief rendezvous with Barabbas is a common theme in history, where peaceful political or social rejection of authority is often considered more dangerous to the elites than common criminal activity, violent or not. Orwell noted this in his novel 1984, where the main protagonist Winston Smith is throw in jail and quickly sees how the common criminals are treated with more respect by the guards than are the “party prisoners”.
Such is the case in many areas of the United States currently. District attorneys in large “blue” cities such as Alvin Bragg in New York City and George Gascon in Los Angeles are dispensing with bail requirements or not even charging many crimes, including trespassing, resisting arrest, drug possession, gang-related offenses, etc.; not surprisingly, an unprecedented wave of mass looting, random assaults, subway attacks, carjackings, and the like has hit those same cities.
Meanwhile, not wearing a mask or trying to enter an establishment while unvaccinated, peacefully challenging the teaching of “critical race theory” in the public schools, or protesting peacefully against an obviously fraudulent election, can get one labelled a domestic terrorist or insurrectionist by Federal or local authorities and placed in jail very quickly, in some cases even in solitary confinement without due process.
This explains why the Oath-Keepers, a diverse group of veterans and active-duty law enforcement officers and servicemen, have been targeted so directly by the FBI and the Department of Justice. The Oath-Keepers are dangerous not because they are violent but because they refuse to commit violence against the American people as members of the United States military without the consent of the governor of a particular state. In doing so, they are merely upholding the tenets of the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 and also the military officer oath, which is to the Constitution of the United States, not the president.
The FBI prior to January 6th tried to infiltrate the Oath Keepers and compromise them, and it evidently was somewhat successful based on the amount of communications listed in the indictment. But the Oath-Keeper leadership, headed by Yale Law School graduate Stewart Rhoades, was presumably made aware of the infiltration and setup by their followers who refused to go along[1].
In the end, the Oath Keeper leadership did not enter the Capitol, did not carry firearms, and did not direct violence against it. It is one thing to indict in America—almost anyone or anything can be indicted by authorities for something—and another to convict in a court of law.
But the main goal of the indictments may have been less to imprison the Oath-Keepers and its leadership than to intimidate and delegitimatize them and any supporters among the United States military. This would be extra insurance should the U.S. military be asked to move against its own citizens in the foreseeable future.
For now, it seems that the populace in many cities is, if not outright welcoming the Barabbas’s back into the community, at least tolerating them or merely apathetic to the entire situation. We don’t know if Barabbas ever committed another crime after being released by Pilate, but releasing criminals who re-engage in criminal activity while punishing nonviolent protesters is not without risk to the authorities.
Even repressive governments need a veil of legitimacy to them, and if the average person no longer trusts or believes in the government as cities descend into mayhem and the social order breaks down, a few mask-mandate protesters may be the least of the authorities’ problems.
William de Berg is the pen name of an American scientist and author of four conspiracy/truther fiction novels: Serpent and Savior, White Spiritual Boy, Divided We Stand, and Shield Down.
NOTES
[1] https://thebl.tv/us-news/caught-on-tape-former-green-berets-are-being-recruited-by-the-fbi-and-dhs-to-infiltrate-and-spy-on-oath-keepers-and-proud-boys.html
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