The Purge
Prologue
They had explanations for every change in law or restriction. Civil liberty groups and some Churches complained loudly but the nation had taken a sharp turn to the right. People felt insecure and the politicians took full advantage of it.
At first it did not seem all that bad. After all we were safer weren’t we? It was a small price to pay for safety. So what if a few people came out on the short end of it. This was America after all, if they could not fit in then they should just leave. If they could not speak English they should learn or leave. Laws were passed so those health care professionals did not have to dispense medication or treat patients if they found them to be objectionable. Gays & Non Christians found it harder and harder to find housing. Then the jobs began to dry up as well. That along with laws that had been on the books for years. Allowing people to be fired or kicked out of the places they were renting if they were gay or different further marginalized them. Without access to jobs, proper health care or housing whole segments of the population fell below the poverty line.
It was not long after that that the vigilantes started up. Non-Christian and gay businesses were targeted. Windows were smashed and boycotts were organized.
Soon it was apparent that it was dangerous to be different.
Anything was justified if you were on the correct side. If you were not then you had no rights.
The saddest thing to me was how many of the smaller religious groups went along with it, only to discover that they were not pure enough either.
Within a few years’ decades of progress on human rights was erased. Gays, non-Christians and then anyone they deemed not pure enough in their belief were driven out of communities. Slowly they congregated in cities where they still felt safe. But the ring was tightening around them. At first the vigilantes just roamed outside of the areas beating up those who dared come out. But they grew bolder and soon they could roam with impunity. The enclaves were turned into de facto camps. Factories were built there that provided the only available source of jobs. They made sweatshops look good. Working conditions were horrible but with people lined up to get any kind of job you dared not quit.
Science was discouraged unless it “proved” some tenet of the faithful. Free thinking men and women were themselves labeled as sinners. If you did not comply you were thrown into “education” camps.
For my part I had been lucky enough figure out what was happening before it was too late.
This is my story. It did not feel glamorous or heroic to me but then real life seldom does. But it needs to be told.
© 2006, Joseph Men