A Christian Agrarian’s Response To NAIS

The National Animal Identification System is now a reality in Wisconsin. Go to www.wiid.org for the official propaganda. Wisconsin is priding itself in being at the forefront of this system and hopes to use it’s model as the national standard. So if you want to see what’s coming to a neighborhood near you, just take a look at this system that is in place right now. Premises registration, the first of 3 phases went into effect January 1, 2006, in Wisconsin. January 1st was the final deadline that is. There is the possibility of a $200-$5000 penalty for anyone found in violation. The supposed goal is to have a 48 hr trace back to any animal found with a strain of infectious disease like the Asian Bird Flu Virus, Mad Cow, etc.

Though at face value it might seem to be a good thing, there are underlying ramifications that could be extremely detrimental to our freedom to control our own source of food. We are against this government intrusion into our privacy and way of life. We feel that putting these restrictions and controls on even the smallest of livestock owners will do absolutely nothing to insure the safety of the American public from some new strain of deadly disease. It is ridiculous to think that we would need the government to track our animals when our livestock are right here in our own back yard. If our friends and neighbors all started getting sick from our animals or produce, then we would be the first to know it anyway. We would be in complete cooperation with any and all authorities if some weird disease broke out at our farm. In fact we would welcome their involvement with open arms not wanting to risk the safety of our family, friends and neighbors.

So I have to ask myself, what is my response to this unwelcome intrusion? I would hope my response would be a biblical one. We still have enough freedoms where we can take some action. We still have a voice and if we don’t use it then we shouldn’t complain when we are stripped of our freedoms. So my family and I are going to speak up however we can to make our position heard within the constraints of the law. And after that if we still don’t get the results we hoped for then we will just adapt. We will learn to be tough and resilient just like our forefathers. After all, that is one of the things we admired about them anyway. Through their faith in God, with back bone and determination they survived even when circumstances were against them and things often seemed hopeless. That is the example I would hope to emulate.

With all said I would like to turn this around and conclude by looking on the bright side. Ultimately God is in control and it is he who allows certain governments to take power and it is he who takes them down. For what ever reason God in his sovereignty has seen fit for us to live in this time with it’s particular kind of circumstances. In the end, good will prevail.

I have never been someone who gets involved with politics finding it all quite distasteful and unpleasant. I tend to be the kind of person who seeks to live a peaceful and quiet life. Sometimes at all costs. But, with this issue of animal tracking, I have to express my opinion to whom ever will listen as long as we still have the freedom to do that. Nevertheless I will continue to keep trusting God. It is he who led us here and put the agrarian desire in our hearts and he will continue to lead us into the paths he has destined for us to walk.

By nature, I am by no means any kind of activist but, I feel that one thing I can do is write letters and make phone calls. Every blogger in this agrarian internet community has a gift for writing so I do believe that if all of us use that gift to write to news papers and government representatives we might be able to make a difference. Even if we can’t stop this tide entirely, then we will have made an honest effort to do our part. What is that old saying? The pen is mightier than the sword? I forget who said that and right now I don’t have the time to look it up.

So far there are at least 4 other blogs that I know of taking up the cause on this and they are; Northern Farmer, Sugar Mountain Farm, Antithesis in Agriculture, and Turtle Mt. Hillbilly. All of which have some really good points. See their links at the right hand side bar of this blog.
I want to mention again that I am so pleased to have stumbled on to this Agrarian blogging community. I enjoy reading so many good writings and wish I had the time to devote to more of it. I said this once before, it feels like coming home.

Until Next Time