Most of the time we think of the Declaration of Independence in national terms. Severing our ties to Great Britain necessitated the formation of a new government originally defined by the Articles of Confederation. Ultimately, these two documents lead to our current Constitution - a document that is changeable, but does not evolve of its own accord.
These documents and the ideas contained within are the result of the coming together of a free people. They represent a choice - one that cost many of the signers of the Declaration of Independence their fortunes, their families, their very lives.
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.These honorable men didn't fight for healthcare, welfare, or any other government entitlement that you can think of. They risked everything for the chance to stand on their own, to run their businesses and their lives as they saw fit. They fought to remove the shackles of government, not to replace them with restraints in another form.
The U.S. Constitution is a direct result of that type of thinking. It's designed not to empower government, but to restrain it. It doesn't define our freedoms; it defines our government's limitations.
Somewhere in the last two centuries we've forgotten about the pride and dignity of being independent. We've been lured into an interdependence that empowers government beyond anything that our founding fathers ever envisioned. In fact, we believe that they would be truly appalled.
This July 4th - this Independence Day, remember that this day should be more than a celebration of separation. It should be a day celebrating our personal liberty, our freedom... our independence.
1 comment:
The fine gentlemen that wrote the documents that today (the Fourth) we celebrate are no doubt spinning in there respective graves at how many of those freedoms that they
"...mutually pledge(d) to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" we have given up! What would they think of the travesty of Justice that was visited upon Elton John Richard?? What would they think of the City-installed surveillance cameras along 4th (how ironic) Street, Wyoming Blvd, and Paseo del Norte???? What would they think of the RLC's? The smoking on the plaza (and parks , and city sidewalks, etc) ban? The cellphone use in cars ban? And of course the extreme limitations on what we can use to in fact celebrate the 4th of July with, i.e., what used to be considered "duds" when I was growing up?
I think the answer to my overly-long and multi-faceted question is...they'd think it would be time to "Roust the Scoundrels and Ride Them Out on a Rail, Appropriately Tarred and Feathered". And I find myself in Total Agreement with such a sentiment!
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