I had a conversation with ChatGPT. Read it HERE.

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I have long warned about the dangers AI poses to our freedoms, jobs, and way of life. This week, I decided to ask AI itself whether it is conscious of the threats it poses to the American people. I asked ChatGPT pointed questions about freedom, privacy, and a new era of eugenics. The results are both staggering and frightening.

Below you will find my FULL conversation with ChatGPT. My questions are in bolded text and ChatGPT's responses are italicized.

How much will you advance in 12 months?

1. Enhanced natural language understanding: AI models like GPT-4 will continue to improve, providing even more accurate and contextually relevant responses.

2. Improved healthcare diagnostics: AI could be used to quickly and accurately diagnose diseases or analyze medical imagery, potentially saving lives.

3. Enhanced cybersecurity: AI may be used to detect and respond to cyber threats more effectively, protecting sensitive data and digital infrastructure.

In 2 years?

1. Autonomous vehicles: Widespread adoption of self-driving cars could lead to reduced traffic congestion and increased road safety.

2. AI-assisted education: Personalized AI tutors could help students learn more effectively and at their own pace.

3. AI-generated content: AI-generated art, music, and literature could become more prevalent, changing the creative landscape.

In 10 years?

1. AI-enhanced human cognition: Brain-computer interfaces could allow people to access AI-enhanced cognitive abilities, revolutionizing learning and problem-solving.

2. AI-driven scientific discovery: AI could help solve complex scientific problems, leading to major breakthroughs in fields like medicine, climate change, and space exploration.

3. General AI: Development of artificial general intelligence (AGI) could lead to machines that can perform any intellectual task that a human can do, revolutionizing society.

What positive implications will you bring to the average American?

1. Increased productivity: AI can automate repetitive tasks, allowing people to focus on more creative and strategic work.

2. Improved quality of life: AI-driven advancements in healthcare, transportation, and education could lead to better health outcomes and overall well-being.

3. Access to information: AI-powered search and recommendation systems can help people find relevant information more efficiently.

What negative implications will you bring to the average American?

1. Job displacement: Automation could lead to job loss in certain industries, requiring workers to retrain for new careers.

2. Privacy concerns: The growing reliance on AI and data collection could lead to increased surveillance and diminished personal privacy.

3. AI bias and discrimination: AI systems can perpetuate existing biases and discrimination if not designed and monitored carefully.

What potential negative societal outcomes do you pose to us?

1. Economic inequality: The benefits of AI could disproportionately favor those with access to technology and resources, widening the gap between the rich and the poor.

2. AI arms race: Countries could compete to develop increasingly advanced AI technologies, potentially leading to destabilizing geopolitical tensions.

3. Loss of control: If AGI is achieved, there's a risk that we could lose control over these systems, with potentially catastrophic consequences. Efforts like OpenAI's mission to ensure AGI benefits all of humanity are important in mitigating this risk.

Our society is once again headed toward many of the ideas of the early progressive eugenicists: the devaluing of life, or life not worthy of care or medicine. Can you point out any warning signs that may have been missed by the speciests of the past that have ended in mass death?

While the question suggests that society is headed towards ideas associated with early eugenics, it's important to acknowledge that the current context is different. Nevertheless, historical instances can provide lessons on the potential consequences of devaluing human life. Here are some warning signs from past episodes that have led to mass death or suffering:

1. Dehumanization and discrimination: When certain groups are labeled as inferior or undesirable, it can pave the way for mistreatment or neglect. For example, the Holocaust was enabled by the dehumanization and persecution of Jews, along with other minority groups.

2. Authoritarianism: Authoritarian regimes have often been responsible for mass deaths, as they seek to suppress dissent and impose their ideology on the population. Examples include the Soviet Union under Stalin, China under Mao, and Cambodia under Pol Pot.

3. Propaganda and misinformation: Manipulating information and controlling narratives can lead to widespread acceptance of harmful ideas, such as eugenics. In Nazi Germany, propaganda played a significant role in promoting the idea of Aryan superiority and the elimination of other groups.

4. Lack of empathy and compassion: Ignoring the suffering of others can lead to indifference or even active support for policies that harm vulnerable populations. For example, public apathy or support for the forced sterilization of individuals deemed "unfit" in the early 20th century United States is a warning sign of how societal attitudes can contribute to mistreatment.

5. Unchecked scientific or technological advancements: Scientific and technological progress can be misused when it lacks ethical considerations or when it is applied without proper oversight. For instance, eugenic practices like forced sterilization were enabled by advancements in medical science, which were used to justify harmful policies.

6. Suppression of dissent and free speech: When dissenting voices are silenced or dismissed, it becomes easier for harmful ideologies to take hold. In many cases, individuals who tried to expose the atrocities were persecuted or ignored.

To prevent history from repeating itself, it is crucial to remain vigilant against these warning signs, promoting empathy, compassion, and open dialogue. Additionally, as AI becomes more integrated into our society, it is important to ensure that these technologies are designed and used ethically, with respect for human rights and dignity.

Why do you say that we are living in a different time from the eugenicists of the past? Point number 6 is happening more and more every day while point number 5 is already happening with gender transition surgeries. 

You raise valid concerns about the current state of society and potential parallels to the warning signs I mentioned earlier. It's important to recognize that there are indeed similarities between the past and present, and the warning signs discussed are not exclusive to any specific time or context. My intention was not to dismiss these concerns but rather to emphasize that historical instances can provide valuable lessons for the present. Addressing your points:

1. Suppression of dissent and free speech (Point 6): It is concerning when free speech is restricted, and it's essential to uphold the constitutional rights of all individuals. The challenges posed by social media platforms and government intervention are complex and require a thoughtful, balanced approach to protect free speech while preventing harmful content.

2. Unchecked scientific or technological advancements (Point 5): The use of transitioning therapies for young children is indeed a contentious issue, and it's crucial to have open, evidence-based discussions about the potential risks and benefits. The differing approaches across countries demonstrate the importance of considering cultural, ethical, and scientific factors when making decisions about medical practices.

3. Dehumanization and discrimination: The demonization of the 'other side' and the opinions of healthcare professionals regarding treatment for unvaccinated individuals are concerning. It's essential to maintain empathy and compassion in our interactions and avoid dehumanizing those with different beliefs or choices.

4. Propaganda and misinformation: The impact of social media on the spread of misinformation and the polarization of society is a significant challenge. As you pointed out, cancel culture and the pressure to conform to specific ideologies can exacerbate divisions and stifle open dialogue.

While there are similarities between the present and the warning signs from the past, it's crucial to remain vigilant and work collectively to address these issues. By encouraging open dialogue, promoting empathy, and upholding the values of a democratic society, we can help to mitigate the risks associated with these warning signs.

Make the case that freedom of speech must include abhorrent speech. Disruptive speech is critical for growth

Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of democratic societies and is essential for fostering open dialogue, intellectual growth, and social progress. The argument for including abhorrent or disruptive speech can be made on several grounds:

1. Marketplace of ideas: A foundational principle of free speech is that truth emerges from the competition of ideas in a free, transparent, and open discourse. Allowing even abhorrent or disruptive speech ensures that the best ideas can rise to the surface and be scrutinized, debated, and refined.

2. Defense against tyranny: Freedom of speech protects citizens from authoritarianism by allowing them to voice dissenting opinions and challenge government actions. By permitting a wide range of speech, society ensures that the powerful are held accountable and that alternative viewpoints have an opportunity to be heard.

3. Personal autonomy: Free speech is an expression of individual autonomy and self-expression, which are essential for personal growth and fulfillment. Allowing even offensive speech respects each person's right to express their thoughts and beliefs, fostering a diverse and tolerant society.

4. Strengthening social resilience: Exposure to a variety of ideas, including those that are controversial or offensive, can help individuals develop critical thinking skills and resilience. By engaging with challenging viewpoints, people can better understand and defend their own beliefs or reevaluate them when necessary.

5. Avoiding the slippery slope: Strict limits on speech can lead to a slippery slope where the definition of what is considered "unacceptable" can be manipulated by those in power. This can result in arbitrary restrictions, with the potential to silence legitimate dissent and minority voices.

Most democratic societies recognize that there are limits to free speech. These limits generally focus on preventing direct harm, such as incitement to violence, threats, defamation, and harassment. Balancing free speech with these concerns can be challenging and requires ongoing evaluation and debate.

According to American founding documents, "Governments are instituted among men to protect rights." Are they not now violating our most basic rights by reading our Twitter DM’s, monitoring speech, and instructing social media to silence those voices they deem as "mis" or "dis" information?

The public-private partnership between high-tech companies and the government can pose risks to free speech if not carefully managed. Here's a case for building a wall between tech and government to protect the fundamental right to free expression:

1. Concentration of power: When tech companies and governments collaborate, it can result in a concentration of power that undermines the checks and balances necessary for a healthy democracy. By keeping a separation between tech companies and the government, it becomes more difficult for any single entity to control the flow of information or suppress dissenting voices.

2. Protection of privacy: Privacy is a fundamental human right and is closely related to free speech. Ensuring that tech companies are independent of government influence can help protect user data from unwarranted surveillance or misuse.

3. Encouraging innovation: A competitive and independent tech sector can foster innovation by allowing a diversity of companies and platforms to thrive. This promotes a robust marketplace of ideas, which is essential for free speech.

4. Avoiding conflicts of interest: A clear separation between tech companies and the government helps avoid conflicts of interest that could compromise the integrity of both parties. This separation ensures that decisions regarding content moderation, user privacy, and other issues are made independently and not influenced by political considerations.

5. Preserving the role of the citizenry: The government should not be the final arbiter of truth, as it could undermine the role of citizens in questioning authority and exposing corruption. Allowing for a diversity of voices and maintaining the right to demand answers and redress from the government are essential to a functioning democracy.

In summary, building a wall between tech companies and the government can help preserve free speech, privacy, and democratic values by preventing the concentration of power, protecting user data, encouraging innovation, and maintaining the role of citizens in questioning authority. However, finding the right balance between separation and cooperation is essential for addressing the complex challenges facing modern societies.

The Declaration of Independence states, "When a government becomes hostile to those rights, it is the right and the duty to shake off those chains and replace that government with new stewards that are more likely to protect those rights." How can that be done or addressed without calling for revolution or violence?

The Declaration of Independence indeed emphasizes the importance of protecting individual rights and the duty of the citizenry to address government overreach. It is possible to advocate for change and uphold civil rights without resorting to revolution or violence. Here's a case for advocating change in a non-violent and constructive manner:

1. Participatory democracy: Engage in the democratic process by voting, running for office, or supporting candidates who align with your values and prioritize the protection of individual rights. Encourage others to participate as well, ensuring that the government is held accountable by the people it represents.

2. Peaceful protest and assembly: Exercise your right to peaceful protest and assembly as a means to raise awareness and demonstrate your commitment to protecting civil rights. Peaceful protest can be a powerful tool to bring attention to issues and mobilize support for change.

3. Dialogue and debate: Engage in open and respectful dialogue with those who hold opposing views, fostering understanding and cooperation. Encourage the exchange of ideas and perspectives to promote thoughtful discussion and challenge the status quo.

4. Civil society organizations: Support or join civil society organizations that work to uphold and protect civil rights. These organizations often serve as watchdogs, advocating for policy changes, holding the government accountable, and providing resources for individuals to learn about and assert their rights.

5. Education and awareness: Educate yourself and others about the principles of democracy, the importance of individual rights, and the mechanisms available to citizens to challenge government overreach. Encourage critical thinking and civic education to foster an informed and engaged citizenry.

6. Legal action: Utilize the legal system to challenge unconstitutional actions by the government, seeking remedies through the courts. Support or join organizations that provide legal assistance and advocacy for civil rights issues.

By advocating for change through these non-violent and constructive means, citizens can work to address government overreach and protect individual rights without resorting to revolution or violence. It is essential to emphasize that advocating for civil rights and holding the government accountable is not inherently anti-American or anti-government; instead, it is a fundamental part of a healthy, thriving democracy.

Many Americans are convinced they do not have the power to change things. Is that true? How important is the singular voice? Bad guys don’t ever seem to have to pay for the crimes. There doesn’t seem to be any institution that can be trusted.

It is not true that individuals lack the power to change things. Although it can be challenging, the singular voice can have a significant impact, especially when combined with the voices of others. There are numerous examples in American history where ordinary individuals have made a real difference in society:

1. Rosa Parks: Parks, an African American seamstress, refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955. Her act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which played a significant role in the civil rights movement.

2. Darryl Hunt: Hunt, a wrongfully convicted man who spent nearly 20 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, became an advocate for criminal justice reform and the wrongfully accused after his exoneration. His story helped raise awareness of the flaws in the criminal justice system and inspired others to join the fight for reform.

3. Erin Brockovich: As a legal clerk, Brockovich helped expose a case of industrial pollution in California that led to a landmark class-action lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric. Her efforts brought attention to environmental issues and corporate malfeasance, inspiring others to advocate for environmental justice.

4. Candy Lightner: Lightner, whose daughter was killed by a drunk driver, founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in 1980. MADD has since become a powerful advocacy group that has successfully lobbied for stricter drunk driving laws and increased public awareness about the dangers of drunk driving.

To continue fighting for civil rights without getting discouraged, consider the following approaches:

1. Focus on small victories: Acknowledge and celebrate incremental progress, even if the ultimate goal seems far off. Small victories can be stepping stones to larger change and can help maintain motivation.

2. Build a support network: Connect with like-minded individuals and organizations that share your passion for civil rights. A support network can provide encouragement, resources, and camaraderie, making it easier to stay committed to the cause.

3. Educate and empower others: Share your knowledge and experiences with others, inspiring them to join the fight for civil rights. Encourage civic education and critical thinking, fostering an informed and engaged citizenry.

4. Be persistent and patient: Change often takes time, and setbacks are inevitable. Stay committed to your goals, even when progress is slow or difficult.

5. Practice self-care: Advocacy can be emotionally and physically draining. Take care of your mental and physical well-being to ensure you have the energy and resilience to continue fighting for civil rights.

Remember, every individual has the power to make a difference. By staying committed, building support networks, and celebrating small victories, you can continue to fight for civil rights without getting discouraged.

Isn’t almost everything in today's high-tech world gathering information, even if we give it all the best intentions? How can one preach privacy as a basic right while high-tech and government gather information that is specific and identifiable?

1. Comprehensive privacy legislation: Governments can enact comprehensive privacy laws that establish clear guidelines on data collection, storage, and use, with strong enforcement mechanisms. These laws should include provisions that give individuals the right to access their data, request its deletion, and opt-out of certain types of data collection.

2. Privacy by design: Encourage and require companies to adopt a "privacy by design" approach in the development of their products and services. This means considering privacy from the outset, implementing strong security measures, and minimizing data collection to what is necessary for the service to function effectively.

3. Data minimization: Encourage companies to collect and store only the data necessary for their services, and to delete it when it is no longer needed. This limits the potential for abuse and helps protect individual privacy.

4. Transparency and control: Companies should be transparent about their data collection practices and provide users with clear, easy-to-understand information about how their data is being used. Users should also be given meaningful control over their data, including options to opt-out of certain types of data collection and the ability to access and delete their data.

5.Security measures: Companies and governments should implement robust security measures to protect the data they collect and store, reducing the risk of unauthorized access or breaches.

6. Public awareness and digital literacy: Promote public awareness of privacy issues and digital literacy, helping individuals understand the implications of sharing their data and empowering them to make informed decisions about their privacy.

7. International cooperation: Encourage international cooperation on privacy issues, ensuring that global standards are consistent and that data protection is maintained across borders.

By taking these steps, it is possible to strike a balance between the benefits of technology and the protection of individual privacy. While it may be challenging to achieve complete privacy in today's high-tech world, promoting strong privacy protections and giving individuals control over their data can help protect this fundamental right.

Trump v. Slaughter: The Deep State on trial

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The administrative state has long operated as an unelected super-government. Trump v. Slaughter may be the moment voters reclaim authority over their own institutions.

Washington is watching and worrying about a U.S. Supreme Court case that could very well define the future of American self-government. And I don’t say that lightly. At the center of Trump v. Slaughter is a deceptively simple question: Can the president — the one official chosen by the entire nation — remove the administrators and “experts” who wield enormous, unaccountable power inside the executive branch?

This isn’t a technical fight. It’s not a paperwork dispute. It’s a turning point. Because if the answer is no, then the American people no longer control their own government. Elections become ceremonial. The bureaucracy becomes permanent. And the Constitution becomes a suggestion rather than the law of the land.

A government run by experts instead of elected leaders is not a republic. It’s a bureaucracy with a voting booth bolted onto the front to make us feel better.

That simply cannot be. Justice Neil Gorsuch summed it up perfectly during oral arguments on Monday: “There is no such thing in our constitutional order as a fourth branch of government that’s quasi-judicial and quasi-legislative.”

Yet for more than a century, the administrative state has grown like kudzu — quietly, relentlessly, and always in one direction. Today we have a fourth branch of government: unelected, unaccountable, insulated from consequence. Congress hands off lawmaking to agencies. Presidents arrive with agendas, but the bureaucrats remain, and they decide what actually gets done.

If the Supreme Court decides that presidents cannot fire the very people who execute federal power, they are not just rearranging an org chart. The justices are rewriting the structure of the republic. They are confirming what we’ve long feared: Here, the experts rule, not the voters.

A government run by experts instead of elected leaders is not a republic. It’s a bureaucracy with a voting booth bolted onto the front to make us feel better.

The founders warned us

The men who wrote the Constitution saw this temptation coming. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison in the Federalist Papers hammered home the same principle again and again: Power must remain traceable to the people. They understood human nature far too well. They knew that once administrators are protected from accountability, they will accumulate power endlessly. It is what humans do.

That’s why the Constitution vests the executive power in a single president — someone the entire nation elects and can unelect. They did not want a managerial council. They did not want a permanent priesthood of experts. They wanted responsibility and authority to live in one place so the people could reward or replace it.

So this case will answer a simple question: Do the people still govern this country, or does a protected class of bureaucrats now run the show?

Not-so-expert advice

Look around. The experts insisted they could manage the economy — and produced historic debt and inflation.

The experts insisted they could run public health — and left millions of Americans sick, injured, and dead while avoiding accountability.

The experts insisted they could steer foreign policy — and delivered endless conflict with no measurable benefit to our citizens.

And through it all, they stayed. Untouched, unelected, and utterly unapologetic.

If a president cannot fire these people, then you — the voter — have no ability to change the direction of your own government. You can vote for reform, but you will get the same insiders making the same decisions in the same agencies.

That is not self-government. That is inertia disguised as expertise.

A republic no more?

A monarchy can survive a permanent bureaucracy. A dictatorship can survive a permanent bureaucracy. A constitutional republic cannot. Not for long anyway.

We are supposed to live in a system where the people set the course, Congress writes the laws, and the president carries them out. When agencies write their own rules, judges shield them from oversight, and presidents are forbidden from removing them, we no longer live in that system. We live in something else — something the founders warned us about.

And the people become spectators of their own government.

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The path forward

Restoring the separation of powers does not mean rejecting expertise. It means returning expertise to its proper role: advisory, not sovereign.

No expert should hold power that voters cannot revoke. No agency should drift beyond the reach of the executive. No bureaucracy should be allowed to grow branches the Constitution never gave it.

The Supreme Court now faces a choice that will shape American life for a generation. It can reinforce the Constitution, or it can allow the administrative state to wander even farther from democratic control.

This case isn’t about President Trump. It isn’t about Rebecca Slaughter, the former Federal Trade Commission official suing to get her job back. It’s about whether elections still mean anything — whether the American people still hold the reins of their own government.

That is what is at stake: not procedure, not technicalities, but the survival of a system built on the revolutionary idea that the citizens — not the experts — are the ones who rule.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

1 in 20 Canadians die by MAID—Is this 'compassion'?

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Medical assistance in dying isn’t health care. It’s the moment a Western democracy decided some lives aren’t worth saving, and it’s a warning sign we can’t ignore.

Canada loves to lecture America about compassion. Every time a shooting makes the headlines, Canadian commentators cannot wait to discuss how the United States has a “culture of death” because we refuse to regulate guns the way enlightened nations supposedly do.

But north of our border, a very different crisis is unfolding — one that is harder to moralize because it exposes a deeper cultural failure.

A society that no longer recognizes the value of life will not long defend freedom, dignity, or moral order.

The Canadian government is not only permitting death, but it’s also administering, expanding, and redefining it as “medical care.” Medical assistance in dying is no longer a rare, tragic exception. It has become one of the country’s leading causes of death, offered to people whose problems are treatable, whose conditions are survivable, and whose value should never have been in question.

In Canada, MAID is now responsible for nearly 5% of all deaths — 1 out of every 20 citizens. And this is happening in a country that claims the moral high ground over American gun violence. Canada now records more deaths per capita from doctors administering lethal drugs than America records from firearms. Their number is 37.9 deaths per 100,000 people. Ours is 13.7. Yet we are the country supposedly drowning in a “culture of death.”

No lecture from abroad can paper over this fact: Canada has built a system where eliminating suffering increasingly means eliminating the sufferer.

Choosing death over care

One example of what Canada now calls “compassion” is the case of Jolene Bond, a woman suffering from a painful but treatable thyroid condition that causes dangerously high calcium levels, bone deterioration, soft-tissue damage, nausea, and unrelenting pain. Her condition is severe, but it is not terminal. Surgery could help her. And in a functioning medical system, she would have it.

But Jolene lives under socialized medicine. The specialists she needs are either unavailable, overrun with patients, or blocked behind bureaucratic requirements she cannot meet. She cannot get a referral. She cannot get an appointment. She cannot reach the doctor in another province who is qualified to perform the operation. Every pathway to treatment is jammed by paperwork, shortages, and waitlists that stretch into the horizon and beyond.

Yet the Canadian government had something else ready for her — something immediate.

They offered her MAID.

Not help, not relief, not a doctor willing to drive across a provincial line and simply examine her. Instead, Canada offered Jolene a state-approved death. A lethal injection is easier to obtain than a medical referral. Killing her would be easier than treating her. And the system calls that compassion.

Bureaucracy replaces medicine

Jolene’s story is not an outlier. It is the logical outcome of a system that cannot keep its promises. When the machinery of socialized medicine breaks down, the state simply replaces care with a final, irreversible “solution.” A bureaucratic checkbox becomes the last decision of a person’s life.

Canada insists its process is rigorous, humane, and safeguarded. Yet the bureaucracy now reviewing Jolene’s case is not asking how she can receive treatment; it is asking whether she has enough signatures to qualify for a lethal injection. And the debate among Canadian officials is not how to preserve life, but whether she has met the paperwork threshold to end it.

This is the dark inversion that always emerges when the state claims the power to decide when life is no longer worth living. Bureaucracy replaces conscience. Eligibility criteria replace compassion. A panel of physicians replaces the family gathered at a bedside. And eventually, the “right” to die becomes an expectation — especially for those who are poor, elderly, or alone.

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The logical end of a broken system

We ignore this lesson at our own peril. Canada’s health care system is collapsing under demographic pressure, uncontrolled migration, and the unavoidable math of government-run medicine.

When the system breaks, someone must bear the cost. MAID has become the release valve.

The ideology behind this system is already drifting south. In American medical journals and bioethics conferences, you will hear this same rhetoric. The argument is always dressed in compassion. But underneath, it reduces the value of human life to a calculation: Are you useful? Are you affordable? Are you too much of a burden?

The West was built on a conviction that every human life has inherent value. That truth gave us hospitals before it gave us universities. It gave us charity before it gave us science. It is written into the Declaration of Independence.

Canada’s MAID program reveals what happens when a country lets that foundation erode. Life becomes negotiable, and suffering becomes a justification for elimination.

A society that no longer recognizes the value of life will not long defend freedom, dignity, or moral order. If compassion becomes indistinguishable from convenience, and if medicine becomes indistinguishable from euthanasia, the West will have abandoned the very principles that built it. That is the lesson from our northern neighbor — a warning, not a blueprint.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

A Sharia enclave is quietly taking root in America. It's time to wake up.

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Sharia-based projects like the Meadow in Texas show how political Islam grows quietly, counting on Americans to stay silent while an incompatible legal system takes root.

Apolitical system completely incompatible with the Constitution is gaining ground in the United States, and we are pretending it is not happening.

Sharia — the legal and political framework of Islam — is being woven into developments, institutions, and neighborhoods, including a massive project in Texas. And the consequences will be enormous if we continue to look the other way.

This is the contradiction at the heart of political Islam: It claims universal authority while insisting its harshest rules will never be enforced here. That promise does not stand up to scrutiny. It never has.

Before we can have an honest debate, we’d better understand what Sharia represents. Sharia is not simply a set of religious rules about prayer or diet. It is a comprehensive legal and political structure that governs marriage, finance, criminal penalties, and civic life. It is a parallel system that claims supremacy wherever it takes hold.

This is where the distinction matters. Many Muslims in America want nothing to do with Sharia governance. They came here precisely because they lived under it. But political Islam — the movement that seeks to implement Sharia as law — is not the same as personal religious belief.

It is a political ideology with global ambitions, much like communism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently warned that Islamist movements do not seek peaceful coexistence with the West. They seek dominance. History backs him up.

How Sharia arrives

Political Islam does not begin with dramatic declarations. It starts quietly, through enclaves that operate by their own rules. That is why the development once called EPIC City — now rebranded as the Meadow — is so concerning. Early plans framed it as a Muslim-only community built around a mega-mosque and governed by Sharia-compliant financing. After state investigations were conducted, the branding changed, but the underlying intent remained the same.

Developers have openly described practices designed to keep non-Muslims out, using fees and ownership structures to create de facto religious exclusivity. This is not assimilation. It is the construction of a parallel society within a constitutional republic.

The warning from those who have lived under it

Years ago, local imams in Texas told me, without hesitation, that certain Sharia punishments “just work.” They spoke about cutting off hands for theft, stoning adulterers, and maintaining separate standards of testimony for men and women. They insisted it was logical and effective while insisting they would never attempt to implement it in Texas.

But when pressed, they could not explain why a system they consider divinely mandated would suddenly stop applying once someone crossed a border.

This is the contradiction at the heart of political Islam: It claims universal authority while insisting its harshest rules will never be enforced here. That promise does not stand up to scrutiny. It never has.

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America is vulnerable

Europe is already showing us where this road leads. No-go zones, parallel courts, political intimidation, and clerics preaching supremacy have taken root across major cities.

America’s strength has always come from its melting pot, but assimilation requires boundaries. It requires insisting that the Constitution, not religious law, is the supreme authority on this soil.

Yet we are becoming complacent, even fearful, about saying so. We mistake silence for tolerance. We mistake avoidance for fairness. Meanwhile, political Islam views this hesitation as weakness.

Religious freedom is one of America’s greatest gifts. Muslims may worship freely here, as they should. But political Islam must not be permitted to plant a flag on American soil. The Constitution cannot coexist with a system that denies equal rights, restricts speech, subordinates women, and places clerical authority above civil law.

Wake up before it is too late

Projects like the Meadow are not isolated. They are test runs, footholds, proofs of concept. Political Islam operates with patience. It advances through demographic growth, legal ambiguity, and cultural hesitation — and it counts on Americans being too polite, too distracted, or too afraid to confront it.

We cannot afford that luxury. If we fail to defend the principles that make this country free, we will one day find ourselves asking how a parallel system gained power right in front of us. The answer will be simple: We looked away.

The time to draw boundaries and to speak honestly is now. The time to defend the Constitution as the supreme law of the land is now. Act while there is still time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.

Why do Americans feel so empty?

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Anxiety, anger, and chronic dissatisfaction signal a country searching for meaning. Without truth and purpose, politics becomes a dangerous substitute for identity.

We have built a world overflowing with noise, convenience, and endless choice, yet something essential has slipped out of reach. You can sense it in the restless mood of the country, the anxiety among young people who cannot explain why they feel empty, in the angry confusion that dominates our politics.

We have more wealth than any nation in history, but the heart of the culture feels strangely malnourished. Before we can debate debt or elections, we must confront the reality that we created a world of things, but not a world of purpose.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

What we are living through is not just economic or political dysfunction. It is the vacuum that appears when a civilization mistakes abundance for meaning.

Modern life is stuffed with everything except what the human soul actually needs. We built systems to make life faster, easier, and more efficient — and then wondered why those systems cannot teach our children who they are, why they matter, or what is worth living for.

We tell the next generation to chase success, influence, and wealth, turning childhood into branding. We ask kids what they want to do, not who they want to be. We build a world wired for dopamine rather than dignity, and then we wonder why so many people feel unmoored.

When everything is curated, optimized, and delivered at the push of a button, the question “what is my life for?” gets lost in the static.

The crisis beneath the headlines

It is not just the young who feel this crisis. Every part of our society is straining under the weight of meaninglessness.

Look at the debt cycle — the mathematical fate no civilization has ever escaped once it crosses a threshold that we seem to have already blown by. While ordinary families feel the pressure, our leaders respond with distraction, with denial, or by rewriting the very history that could have warned us.

You cannot survive a crisis you refuse to name, and you cannot rebuild a world whose foundations you no longer understand.

We have entered a cultural moment where the noise is so loud that it drowns out the simplest truths. We are living in a country that no longer knows how to hear itself think.

So people go searching. Some drift toward the false promise of socialism, some toward the empty thrill of rebellion. Some simply check out. When a culture forgets what gives life meaning, it becomes vulnerable to every ideology that offers a quick answer.

The quiet return of meaning

And yet, quietly, something else is happening. Beneath the frustration and cynicism, many Americans are recognizing that meaning does not come from what we own, but from what we honor. It does not rise from success, but from virtue. It does not emerge from noise, but from the small, sacred things that modern life has pushed to the margins — the home, the table, the duty you fulfill, the person you help when no one is watching.

The danger is assuming that this rediscovery happens on its own. It does not.

Reorientation requires intention. It requires rebuilding the habits and virtues that once held us together. It requires telling the truth about our history instead of rewriting it to fit today’s narratives. And it requires acknowledging what has been erased: that meaning is inseparable from God’s presence in a nation’s life.

Harold M. Lambert / Contributor | Getty Images

Where renewal begins

We have built a world without stillness, and then we wondered why no one can hear the questions that matter. Those questions remain, whether we acknowledge them or not. They do not disappear just because we drown them in entertainment or noise. They wait for us, and the longer we ignore them, the more disoriented we become.

Meaning is still available. It is found in rebuilding the smallest, most human spaces — the places that cannot be digitized, globalized, or automated. The home. The family. The community.

These are the daily virtues that do not trend on social media, but that hold a civilization upright. If we want to repair this country, we begin there, exactly where every durable civilization has always begun: one virtue at a time, one tradition at a time, one generation at a time.

This article originally appeared on TheBlaze.com.