Lux Lucet

–The bottom line is this: red light cameras are not safety devices – they’re revenue-raising devices for corporations, states and municipalities.  – John Whitehead

The preaching of the Gospel that began during the 16th century Protestant Reformation resulted in the salvation of millions, but salvation wasn’t the only benefit conveyed by the widespread belief of God’s word.  A whole new order of society was brought about.  Governments which once ruled a cowed citizens with an iron fist were cut down to size, while at the same time individual liberty grew.  But just as civil liberties were the result, not the cause, of the preaching of Christianity, so the disappearance of Christianity in the West brought about the rise of police state.  Anyone who’s followed the news at all over the past several years knows, or should know, how fast our liberties are vanishing.  Americans have scarcely any privacy left.  Our cell phones are subject to warrantless wiretaps, our financial privacy is gone, at the airport we’re groped and x-rayed, soon our cars will have government-mandated black boxes.  Each year brings new an improved state sponsored snooping.  This being the case, the rise of the red light camera should come as no surprise.  

A while back the City of Cincinnati put red light cameras to a public vote, and the noxious little beasties went down to a glorious defeat.  For once, I was actually proud of the folks in Cincy.  But sadly the surveillance state seemingly has had at least as many successes as defeats in recent years.  Constitutional attorney John Whitehead has written an excellent piece on the rise of the red light camera and the actual motive why government snoop dog types love them so.  Read the article here.