I’m a big fan of Voice of the Martyrs. And one of their services that I especially appreciate is “Prisoner Alert,” which enables English-speaking Christians to write to our persecuted siblings in the Lord in their own languages. Not only do these letters encourage the caged Christian, they also warn the government and prison-guards that this person matters, that far from forgetting him, others are watching and deploring his abuse.

The ol’ Homeland has joined these banana republics in caging innocents, a.k.a., political prisoners for whom we must show concern lest Our Rulers lock them away for decades. One such is an Amish farmer from Kentucky named Sam Girod. His “crime”? Selling a salve whose label the FDA condemned—even after Mr. Girod amended it according to the bureaucracy’s dictates. For this, the injustice system recently sentenced him to at least six years in federal prison.

Thank Heaven for the Kentucky Free Press and the campaign it’s mounted to free him. The Press asks that we, his fellow serfs, write to politicians on his behalf; its explanation for this request eerily resembles pleas for victims of overseas tyrannies from Voice of the Martyrs:

At the very least, our elected representatives must know that PLENTY of people care about an Amish KY farmer being railroaded into prison by an out of control federal agency.

Sam is 56, so even a paltry 20 years (of the 68 possible) could be a life sentence. And the feds might be able to take his farm if the judge makes the fine big enough.

I hope you’ll join me not only in writing to the politicians listed here (Rand Paul is one!) but also in signing this petition for Mr. Girod’s freedom.

God help us, what have we come to?