A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles?" – Matthew 7:15-16

There are an astonishingly high number of people in today’s age who, for better or for worse, pretend to be something that they are not. This isn’t so much a criticism as it is an observation. This could be as innocent as “putting on a brave face” when a situation calls for it. Well, that’s not so bad. But what is objectively bad is someone who presents themselves as a different person altogether for the purposes of manipulation and deception.

Recently in our state of West Virginia, a handful of political leaders have emerged who are trying to present themselves as the self-proclaimed champions of privacy and property rights. They are clearly not who they claim to be, as many of these same representatives are ones who voted to strip us of both. If you are tuned in to current events, then you are likely aware of the debate going on nationwide about flock cameras, and the unprecedent amount of surveillance that they subject everyday citizens to. One issue you may be less familiar with is the “open fields doctrine,” which states that only your house and its curtilage (the yard or area closely tied to home life) receive constitutional privacy protection. Anything beyond that—fields, woods, pastures, open water, vacant lots—can be entered and searched by law enforcement without a warrant.

As more and more of these individuals join the bandwagon of decrying flock cameras and championing a challenge towards the open fields doctrine, I can’t help but notice that many of them are the same individuals who championed House Bill 2014 back in the 2025 legislative session. For those who do not know, house bill 2014 was designed to legally pave the way for data centers by removing protections that could serve as “red tape” for such facilities. Now I am typically a champion for a more constrained and limited government, but given that this law strips away a community’s ability to levy its own taxes and enforce it’s own ordinances and building codes for the good of its citizens, it’s right up there with open fields and flock cameras.

Under HB2014, people essentially lose their appurtenance in the water rights that exist on their property. Under HB2014, noise ordinances, clean air ordinances, and clean water ordinances are ignored for the benefit of hyper-scaled data centers. When a community's tax dollars suddenly go to the state instead, and when an individual's property rights are stripped away for the benefit of large corporations looking to expand their bandwidth, it doesn’t exactly paint a “property rights and privacy” picture, especially when many of these data centers are run by companies like Palantir, who specialize in mass surveillance.

To put it simply, the problem is this – that many delegates and state senators who tell us that they champion privacy and property rights are the same delegates who strip us of these very same rights in their promotion of these massive data processing facilities, which I sometimes refer to as "surveillance centers," depending on who the tenant of such a facility is. When speaking strictly on the teachings of Christ, we are told in James chapter 2 verse 10 that “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”

The gospel rings true in all aspects of our life. You can’t support privacy and property rights in one scenario, while simultaneously violating them in another scenario, and claim to be a champion on either issue. This goes directly back to the “wolf in sheep’s clothing” comparison that Christ makes. You can’t support property rights and privacy some of the time, oppose it at other times, and then claim to be a true supporter on either matter. This goes back to what is written in the book of James. To give a more extreme example, if I rob a jewelry store of $2 million in gems, and then I go advocate for stronger laws to protect people from such occurrences, I cannot claim to be higher in objectively moral principle. I still broke a rule, and because I broke that rule, I have sinned, and I remain a hypocrite if I do not acknowledge my wrongdoing.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but this is politics as usual. The deception and manipulation that comes from local, state, and federal elected officials seems to be at an all time high. And if you notice, these particular politicians are not just being hypocritical and dishonest – they are achieving these dishonest and manipulative ends by violating the teachings of Christ and his disciples. Funny how wrongdoing and violating Christ's teachings always seem to go hand-in-hand. It is one of the reasons that our ministry advocates for transparency in government through our legislative advocacy. Honesty is in everyone’s best interest, and so is consistency. The truth will set you free. Stay honest, and stay true to Christ’s teachings. Keep his commandments and you will not stray from the narrow path.

Take care and God Bless.