“Flattening the curve” — remember that? — was one thing. But this inhuman regime has persisted far beyond that goal. And there are those in the public-health establishment who are openly talking about extending social distancing and masks even after we’ve defeated COVID, because, after all, the regular flu is pretty bad, too. Wouldn’t be nice if we could hit pause on life until death itself has been conquered?

No. Hell no. Never again.

Have you noticed the perverse joy some politicians and public-health officials seemed to take in “canceling Thanksgiving” and “canceling Christmas” — a joy that bespoke an aggressive secularism keen to flaunt its mastery over religion and tradition? That arrogance, too, must be met with our resolute “No” in 2021.

What the joy of Christmas must remind us of is that no mortal king, or governor, gives us our rights; it is God who does. And no modern governor or epidemiologist can cancel Christmas; none can succeed where Herod failed.