Freedom's Ideals

The ideals of the founding fathers are seen by many as “naïve” or “outdated” or “irrelevant.” Rather than seriously consider or debate the issues, it has become fashionable to discredit those who espouse “old-fashioned” ideas.

When I was in grade school, I learned about Washington, Adams, Jefferson, etc. as men to be admired for their courage, insight, and sacrifice in helping to establish this nation. In the last 25-30 years, schoolchildren learn more about tolerance of other cultures (except America's) and religions (except Christianity) and social engineering fads than about the brave men who risked their lives, their fortunes, their families, their health, and their reputations to act on their convictions that America should be a free nation because liberty is a God-given right to all people.

By “digging up dirt” on these imperfect human beings, by focusing on their shortcomings, such as some being slave owners or having mistresses, their message is drowned out and discredited.

But it is the divine ideas of freedom, not the humans espousing it, that are “ideal.”

“To the fool, he who speaks wisdom will sound foolish.” --Euripides

The Fifth Self-Evident Truth

“--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.”

Some people read this self-evident truth and immediately think, “rebellion” or “revolution.” Our Creator has revealed that He establishes governments. Three times in Daniel 4, this is written: “The Most High rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whomsoever He will.” In verse 17, this phrase is added: “and sets up over it the basest of men.”

Instead of rebellion or revolution, Americans need to think “reflection” and do some serious soul-searching. Is God allowing our nation to suffer because we have turned our backs on Him and tolerated things that are an abomination in His sight? If so, then we as a nation need to repent and return to the values that once made us a strong, united, God-fearing beacon of light and liberty.

After all, we can’t “alter” the government until we alter ourselves. We can’t lay or restore the foundation of a government until we build our lives individually on the one true Foundation.

“A man must first govern himself ere he is fit to govern a family; and his family ere he be fit to bear the government of the commonwealth.” –Sir Walter Raleigh

The Fourth Self-Evident Truth

“That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . .”

It seems a difficult thing for those in power to remain humble and remember Who ordains all governments (Romans 13). Instead of confining themselves to “just powers” and governing as true “public servants,” politicians become drunk on power and use their office to amass wealth and influence, forgetting the purpose of government as well as the millions of lives they trample upon.

The elected officials in Washington and all fifty state Capitols need to be reminded that they do not rule over us; we elect them to serve us in our God-appointed governmental system. When they overstep the bounds of their “just powers” then they risk incurring the wrath of God as well as the people.

“Experts and the educated elite have replaced what worked with what sounded good. Society was far more civilized before they took over our schools, prisons, welfare programs, police departments and courts. It's high time we ran these people out of our lives and went back to common sense.” --Walter E. Williams

The Pursuit of Happiness

The third unalienable right listed in the Declaration of Independence does NOT say “happiness” but only the pursuit of it. Does that mean each of us has the right to be self-centered, to live hedonistically, to focus on the material things of this world without regard for one another?

None of those things bring happiness. True joy comes as we grow in character by overcoming adversity. Contentment comes when we are thankful with the blessings that we have. The secret of happiness lies in using our God-given talents to serve Him and one another. Its “pursuit” takes a lifetime, but there is joy in the journey.

“Material abundance without character is the path of destruction.” --Thomas Jefferson

The Flame of Liberty

Why did so many East Germans risk their lives digging tunnels under the Berlin Wall, climbing over it with ropes, flying over it in hot air balloons, and ramming it with trucks?

Why did thousands of Vietnamese cram like sardines into leaky wooden boats with rebuilt engines to flee their country after the fall of Saigon?

Indeed, why have millions of people from every corner of the world flocked to the United States of America?

Freedom. These people valued liberty more than their own lives. Their tyrannical governments could not extinguish the flame of liberty that they carried in their hearts.

Are we willing to risk our lives for the cause of freedom? Or will we sit back and watch as tyrannical leaders attempt to steal our God-given unalienable rights?

"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!" --Patrick Henry

Life

This unalienable right is listed first. God has endowed each of us with a precious life and desires that we use it wisely. Even the tenacious will to live is an amazing testament to the profound value of life.

Respect for life is vital to the survival of a nation. Once people arbitrarily choose who deserves life and who doesn’t, then those in power no longer see individual people who, each and every one, has a right to life. They deem that only “productive” members of society deserve life because they contribute to the nation’s economy.

After fifty million abortions, infanticide, assisted suicide, and court decisions to allow such helpless individuals as Teri Schiavo to be left to die, next in line are the elderly, the terminally ill, the severely retarded. Proponents of nationalized health care are already discussing the “value” of those lives balanced with the cost of prolonged treatment.

This is exactly what happened in Nazi Germany.

“Never abandon life. There is a way out of everything except death.” --Sir Winston Churchill

Unalienable rights

Unalienable, a word we don’t use in everyday English, simply means “not capable of being sold or transferred.”

Unalienable rights, such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, are natural and absolute rights that exist whether or not government exists or “allows” us to have them. They are as natural as air and water, and as vital to our existence. Whenever people are deprived of liberty, their bodies and spirits wither just as a plant droops and eventually dies without water.

We cannot flourish without our unalienable rights. They are our heritage, our endowment from our Creator.

"Our natural, inalienable rights are now considered to be a dispensation from government,and freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp as it is at this moment." Ronald Reagan

Endowed by their Creator

Colleges know all about endowments. Without those monetary gifts many (maybe most) would fail.

Our greatest gift from our Creator is His only Son, Jesus. But we have so many other gifts, otherwise known as blessings. Even the poorest among us is rich compared with people in other countries and throughout history. When we take these blessings for granted, we forget their source and eventually we stop appreciating them.

Our founders recognized that the gifts of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness came from God, not man. When man forcibly takes those gifts from fellow men, they attempt to take the place of God. Tyranny results with all its inherit evils: the taking of life, enslavement of the populace, and misery.

“It is when a people forget God that tyrants forge their chains.” Patrick Henry

Freedom in Equality

The first self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence is “that all men are created equal.”

Some may say, “But that’s not true. Someone born in Somalia is not equal to someone born in America.” If all that matters is economic prosperity, then that is certainly true. If all that matters is equality of opportunity to amass riches and power, then that is certainly true.

What the founders meant by this phrase is that all men (and they included women in this) are created by God, and they are equal in His sight. He does not love one person over another. The Bible states it this way: “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). Each one of us is free to pursue a relationship with God and enjoy the blessings of His unalienable rights—or not. It’s called free will.

When men attempt to eradicate God from the public forum, they create equality in their own image.

“Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants.” --Benjamin Franklin

Self-Evident Truths

The second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence continues: “We hold these truths to be self-evident.” Then five self-evident truths are listed. Here are the first three:

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

“Self-evident” means that any thinking, rational person should be able to understand these basic principles. When people base their beliefs and decisions solely on emotions rather than reason, then absolute truth is cast aside for a nebulous “touchy-feely” proclamation that truth is subjective and can differ for each person.

There is absolute truth and it is based on immutable facts. The unreasonable person can blind him/herself to the facts and choose to remain ignorant, but truth will not change.

“Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people. . .” –John Adams

The Truth Shall Make You Free

Remember those “true or false” questions on tests? There was one right answer and one wrong answer. No shades of gray.

The first four words in the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence are, “We hold these truths . . . .” They are “truths” because they are absolutely, verifiably, unchangeably right. What is true cannot be distorted, even a tiny bit, or it becomes what it false.

Politicians and the media (which was established to hold politicians accountable) have so convoluted the truth that they have become smooth liars and many ignorant people believe what they say. Our task is to desire the truth, find the truth, believe the truth, speak the truth, and live the truth. Only then can we truly be free.

“The truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.” –Herbert Sebastien Agar

A New Birth of Freedom

American liberty did not originate with the Declaration of Independence nor does it have to die a natural death. If each generation is taught the value of our God-given rights as well as the accompanying responsibilities to sacrifice as necessary to maintain our freedoms, then this republic can continue.

Just as the Israelites had a revival when young King Josiah read to them the law of Moses that had been lost for many years (II Chronicles 34), our country can revive even now if we re-educate ourselves in the core principles that have made this American experiment a resounding success and return to individual faith, morality, and responsibility.

“. . .from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain. . . that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom. . . and that government of the people. . .by the people. . .for the people. . . shall not perish from the earth. " From Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address

One definition of liberty

There are many facets to the definition of “liberty.” One of the timely ones defines liberty as a condition in which an individual is protected from tyranny and the arbitrary exercise of authority.

Notice the word arbitrary. A society cannot function where there is no law (anarchy) but neither can it prosper where individual liberties are ignored by those who seek to gain power over others (tyranny).

Throughout history there have been those who desire power over others with no regard to the consequences that the governed must suffer. America’s founders wisely diffused governing powers between three branches (executive, legislative, judicial) so that there would be checks and balances to prevent too much power from falling into the hands of a few.

Unfortunately, in the past several years an erosion of liberties has taken place. Because this has been a gradual change, those of us who have no desire to exercise power over others, who have been content to “live and let live,” have not been as diligent as we ought to have been. All three branches of government have been seizing power and exercising authority in ways that circumvent the U.S. Constitution, hence the attempt to justify this by calling the Constitution “a living document” or “an outdated document.”

“Liberty is the prevention of control by others. This requires self-control and, therefore, religious and spiritual influences; education, knowledge, well-being.” --Lord Acton

The purpose of this blog:

I am an ordinary, middle-aged, middle-class wife and mother who has been a proud American all her life. I see this great country crumbling before my eyes because of the greatest liability a society can have: ignorance.

Therefore I want to do my small part to help remind my fellow Americans what our country was founded upon--the "fathers" who put great ideas into a few amazing documents that have stood the test of time and are in terrible danger of being permanently trampled upon.

Welcome to "Freedom Bites" where we'll remember our heritage one "bite" at a time....

"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." --Wendell Phillips