Well up on the liberal "progressive" agenda for the U.S. is the legalization of assisted suicide.  Of course, the problem is that that Christianity and Judaism have always held it to be a sin because it's only one short ugly step from enshrining the concept into law of the government volunteering to "assist" those it sees no use for, or what in an earlier time we used to call murder.

Can't happen?  Well, look at Holland.  Yeah, picturesque Holland of windmills, Dutch bonnets, fat cows, dikes, tulips, wooden shoes, and more environmentally and politically correct bicycles per square kilometer than anywhere else on the planet, because that country has those "progressive" laws and one of those "progressive" governments.

And so recently, a government suicide doctor drugged an elderly woman's coffee and then, while the target was screaming, "I don't want to die," this modern incarnation of Dr. Mengele had family members hold her down while she administered a lethal injection.  There was a public outcry, and the liberal Dutch government investigated and let the cold-blooded killer walk, explaining that her intentions were good.  And lawful.  Besides, the news report goes on to explain, the old woman might have been suffering from dementia, and so, it suggests, society is better off without her, no matter how much she wanted to live.

You don't believe that things like this can happen until they do.

And until something like this happens, you also don't understand how important it is to keep "progressives" at sword's length.  Indeed, how important the commandment to keep holy the Sabbath is.  That is, how important it is that people are reminded at least once a week that it's evil to steal, covet, and kill.

Indeed, you can draw a straight line between the importance of church or temple attendance and the importance of the Second Amendment – or, shall we say, the immense comfort of keeping a .357 loaded and handy when the "progressives" are in charge and you hit retirement age.

Richard F. Miniter is the author of The Things I Want Most, Random House, BDD.  See it here.  He lives and writes in the colonial-era hamlet of Stone Ridge, New York; blogs here; and can also be reached at miniterhome@gmail.com