Independence
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes. Accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind is more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies. Such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.. (1)
I felt it fitting that I post this today….
The Declaration of Independence was voted into existence on the 2nd of July. It was finally drafted and signed on the 4th.
Why do we BBQ on this day and have fireworks? What makes this holiday important to us? When do we start to realize that this holiday is important? Who will stand up for the constitution that followed this declaration?
These are all good questions and all very pertinent in this day and age. We live in a time in this country when the Constitution is trampled on by our own president at the time of this writing. As he stated in his comment, “The Constitution prevents him from doing certain things.”
In a 2001 interview talking about the Supreme Court, it was said, “To that extent, as radical as I think people try to characterize the Warren Court, it wasn’t that radical. It didn’t break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution, at least as it’s been interpreted, and the Warren Court interpreted it in the same way that generally, the Constitution is a charter of negative liberties. Says what the states can’t do to you. It says what the federal government can’t do to you but doesn’t say what the federal government or state government must do on your behalf. “…(2)
This is a little reminiscent of George Orwell’s book 1984 where Big Brother controls all and redistributes as it sees fit.
If you haven’t read this book, I highly recommend you do so. I think it is amazing how a man could write a book in 1948 depicting things like we see today. Things some would like to see come to pass. The irony of things is that it seems that some of the things touted today as being needed measures seem to be taken from these books and others, dating from a similar time period, for example, by the same author “Animal Farm” a scenario where some animals are more equal than others.
But what disturbs me most is that some examples seem to be taken from the most infamous leaders instead of the most famous.
We now live in a country where it is illegal to catch rain water and live off the grid in some states. Where family farms are sued by monstrous companies because bees pollinate their crops with genetically modified pollen and now make the crops modified and subject to a patent? Where raw milk is illegal and chickens in the city are a nuisance but noisy cars and trains is progress.
A classic TV show is refused to be run because of the flag on the car that represented the South in the Civil War. Who the heck ever said it promoted slavery is out of their doggone gourd!!! I like an article that can be found here. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/confederate-flag-meaning.html because while it tells the truth, it does so without the bias other places tell it.
It was simply the flag of the Southern Confederacy, and when the states succeeded, they created their own flag, nothing more. It is still in use in other countries around the world.
With all the silly symbolism, it is funny to note that the symbolism used by the gay community is the rainbow, so now a cake baker was just sued for refusing to make a cake for a gay wedding based on the religious freedoms they felt they were guaranteed under the constitution. *
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. ...(3)
Yet the symbol for the person’s choice of sexuality is actually a religious symbol of a promise given by God with reference in the bible to the great flood that is held sacred to the baker being sued. So tell me, is that not just a complete oxymoron? So now the conclusion might be that once a group “steals” a symbol and uses it as their own, the historical significance is lost. Should we now replace the US flag with that of one from Nazi Germany and somehow changes its symbolism?
When I was a kid we learned of this stuff. Who remembers this? or, more importantly, who notices that children don’t see this anymore? It is sadly true that even young adults these days have no idea what the Constitution says. What is even sadder is that these people vote in a Republic governed by these documents yet have no idea what they mean. Every day our rights under this very important document are being stripped away. Those who don’t like a symbol cry out to change the law associated with that freedom. Some don’t like guns, they scream out “Ban them.” One thing after another …Vaccinations, homeschooling, off-grid living, medical treatments, people are being forced to live what someone else deems correct. The truly troubling thing is history…History tells us what happens over and over again and again when we forget these things.
Santayana wrote: (in The Life of Reason, 1905); “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
I have a tattoo that says “Live Free or Die” and was recently told that because I have this, I am part of the “tea party.” I said, “Really? This saying is the motto for the State of New Hampshire. Did New Hampshire somehow lose its historic significance where this saying originated?”
The phrase comes from a toast written by General John Stark, New Hampshire’s most famous soldier of the American Revolutionary War, on July 31, 1809. Poor health forced Stark to decline an invitation to an anniversary reunion of the Battle of Bennington. Instead, he sent his toast by letter:Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils. Moreover, A possible source of such mottoes is Patrick Henry‘s famed March 23, 1775, speech to the House of Burgesses (the legislative body of the Virginia colony), which contained the following phrase: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” ..(4)
The political correctness is sickening at best; the point of freedom is that you can be different without persecution. However, the overly sensitive crowd can’t get through the day without having bruised feelings that require some legislation to make people act in a way that does not offend them….well can we get some legislation to outlaw these kinds because they are offensive to me?
With everything surrounding this day, I would ask readers to remember WHY…. Why we celebrate this day and what the day really means. Think about it: Are we intolerant in a country that, by its very foundation, requires tolerance? Do we wish to redistribute another man’s hard work to give to another?
How is this for redistribution? Mind you, this is a hypothetical scenario, but it is the basic premise of the whole redistribution argument. (5)
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama’s socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.
The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama’s plan.” All grades will be averaged, and everyone will receive the same grade, so no one will fail and no one will receive an A…. (Substituting grades for dollars—something closer to home and more readily understood by all).
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the third test rolled around, the average was an F. As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame, and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings, and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
To their great surprise, ALL FAILED. The professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when the government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed. It could not be any simpler than that.
I guess in the end it all comes down to a single thought…..”We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Thanks for reading
(1) “Funny thing, tried to find a copy of the Declaration of Independence on the government website and kept getting the bad link page and finally had to pull it up here… http://www.ushistory.org/Declaration/document/
(2)http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2012/09/23/why-the-fuss-obama-has-long-been-on-record-in-favor-of-redistribution/
(3) Again, the archives page on the federal government site said it was a bad link… https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/first_amendment
(4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Free_or_Die
(5) http://www.ijreview.com/2014/01/107990-story-prof-fails-entire-class-illustrate-obamas-socialism-left-furious/
