But hey, I'm just shrill.

[solarbird]

Pointer from ysabel, Clergy Response Teams to calm populations during declarations of martial law. "For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13. Dr. Tuberville elaborated, 'because the government's established by the Lord, you know. And, that's what we believe in the Christian faith. That's what's stated in the scripture.'" (Story dated 15 August 2007.)

Pointer from ginmar, an old story that got lost in the flood, as it were; Army confiscates leaglly-owned firearms at gunpoint in New Orleans. "'No one will be able to be armed. We will take all weapons.' What else can we expect when our government declares martial law? They're going to let people keep their weapons?! Of course they aren't." (Story from 2005, during the Katrina aftermath.)

Both previously found by Melissa McEwan on Shakespeare's Sister, and both links go there.

Comments

[callibr8]

Yes, confiscation of legally-owned firearms did happen in 2005 in the wake of Katrina. However, it did not go unnoticed, and in fact last year's passage of the Disaster Recovery Personal Protection Act is an attempt to ensure that such trampling of our Constitutional freedoms Does Not Happen Again.

[stickmaker.livejournal.com]

The previous confiscation of firearms was in violation of existing laws. Why would this one be obeyed when those weren't?

My biggest hope in this matter is that politicians are aware, now, that if they illegally take guns from citizens under any pretense their actions will be noticed and criticized. A free press, aided by citizens willing to speak out (and especially if they have camcorders) is still our best defense against tyranny.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

That first one sounds *very* familiar - like last year maybe, there were some PDFs going around? If I recall it was pretty dodgy.

[uniquecrash5.livejournal.com]

Heh, I submitted the link about Clergy Response Teams to Fark.com

[mathmuffin.livejournal.com]

I found a reference to this newcast, Sources, anyone? (http://www.getreligion.org/?p=2630) by Molly Ziegler, on the Get Religion (http://www.getreligion.org/) site. She wonders about the lack of detail and references to check whether this is a real civil rights violation or a misrepresentation of something harmless. She also gives some more details herself on the the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act and the John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007.

Yes, this could be something harmless. The reporter in the original segment ended by saying that the Clergy Response Team had provided eight chaplains to camps after Hurricane Katrina. What if it is simply nothing more than an emergency reserve of chaplains?