Principles of Freedom – What’s Right With America?
I will start
by letting you know that I understand our freedoms are under attack from a
number of sources. We have to actively defend our liberty if we want to keep
it. That said, the United States of America is still the gold standard of the
world when it comes to individual freedom, opportunity and hope for the common
man.
Here we have
the freedom to succeed – and to fail. Failure is one of our greatest teachers.
Most people who have changed their lives for the better in stunning ways have
first attended the school of hard knocks and failure. In many countries,
neither is an option as your life and employment are managed to prevent failure
and as a result, also preclude great success.
Here we have
the freedom to associate, to believe in and worship who or what we want, to
make a difference or to become different. We have the ability to teach our
children our values and to try to encourage others to change or accept what we
believe. We are also restricted from forcing our ideas on anyone else, even if
the government agrees with us.
Here we have
the freedom to affect the direction and attitude of our nation. We the people are the nation, and its elected
officials serve at our pleasure. We can elect them and we can remove them. We
can influence their choices in making law and policy. If they are not
responsive to what a majority of those they represent feel is right, we can
choose new representatives.
Here we have
the understanding that many of what we consider “rights” are granted by God and
not by government and, as such, are not rightly controlled or removed by
government. They are unalienable rights and the government “of the people, by
the people and for the people” is duty bound to protect those rights at all
times. In fact, it is the purpose of government to so do.
Here we have
a document that creates a series of protections of those rights and clearly
spells out the proper role of government and precludes or resists actions that
do not fall into that proper role. It’s called the Constitution and it deserves
our respect, protection and effort to maintain and defend.
It will take
constant vigilance and active defense of our liberty and freedom if we want to
continue to be the best place on earth for opportunity, hope and liberty and
justice for all. It will mean taking the time and effort to learn and teach
each other the Principles of Freedom and it will mean actually electing people
as our servant representatives that see their time in office as a stewardship
and responsibility, not a career or a way to power and riches. It means not
only voting, but being well informed before voting. It means challenging our
representatives and being aware of what they do in our name. That is how a
republic works.
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