'I Kneel to No One, and I Never Will'
A salute to defiance for #FreedomMusicFriday
Help keep the Freedom Scale rolling for the cost of the occasional cup of coffee:
Over the last two days, we have been discussing the totalitarianism gradually metastasizing through the West, and how we ought to react.
On Wednesday—the tragic fact that when tyranny rises, moral considerations often take a back seat to survival.
On Thursday—the question of if and when protective force is justified in response.
We’ve hashed it out in the comment threads, and I am sure we will continue to do so there, and in the months and years ahead. There is an excellent case that peace will win the day. There is an equally reasonable case that tyranny deserves a forceful response, and that such a response may be the only thing that can actually work in the end.
We won’t answer this today, and I don’t want to. All I want to do today is salute each and every one of you for being the people you are.
Resilient.
Resistant to the lies.
Defiant.
Jealously proud of your individuality.
Fiercely protective of your rights as a human person.
To everyone who commented on these questions…
And to everyone else here at the Freedom Scale…
I am proud to know people so strong.
Whatever the songwriters’ actual intent may have been, I am adapting this song for us, here today.
I'll stand for what I think is right…
I will stand alone…
I stand a [wo]man,
Not an animal.And I kneel to no one,
And I never will.
The lyrics nail it. Plus, it’s badass.
Enjoy, you beautiful warriors.



Thank you for being a lamplight of reason and continually shining a light on important questions and, despite the issues we are facing, remaining solution-oriented. I salute you! 🙏✨🥳
God is the word/sound we speak to salute alpha/omega, the One beyond time/space, our Creator whose essence may lie beyond our human ken but to whom we submit in humility, patience, and prayer. We bend the knee to no human, only God, whether through organized religion or private need. And fuck 'em if they can't handle it.