Protecting our children’s Liberty
I was born in raised in Massachusetts, not far from where the first shot of the American Revolution was fired. I grew up learning about the colonial times, the Revolutionary War, Liberty, Freedom, and Patriotism. Now, looking back over my life, I realize that I’ve taken Liberty for granted. I suppose many of us have, being that it has never been so seriously threatened before. When you’ve had it so good for so long, you get used to how things are. You expect things to stay the way they’ve always been.
The real wake-up call came when I started thinking about what my children could grow up believing Patriotism to be. It occurred to me that they may grow up believing that it is the responsibility of the individual to support the needs of the collective. That the purpose of the person is to contribute to the people. That one must be careful what they think or say, because disagreeing with the collective is unpatriotic. So now I find myself explaining what Liberty and Patriotism are to my children, hopefully fending off unwholesome leftist influences from ensnaring my children. It is a never ending struggle, leftist ideology has infiltrated Mainstream Media as well as the public education system.
What comes next, however, is what I worry about the most. Educating my children about Liberty, Patriotism, and the American experience may protect them from falling into the leftist’s ideological traps. But what of the legislative assault on their current, and potential, way of life? ObamaCare, Amnesty for Illegals, Financial Reform, Education Reform, and the overall expansion of government and the taxes required to sustain it? Much of President Obama’s agenda threatens the way of life I grew up to expect, and what my children deserve!
Outspoken Peaceful Protest is Terrorism
The title of this article will likely inspire all sorts of feelings in all sorts of people. It certainly does with me. I disagree with the sentiment, but it seemed fitting since I believe it is exactly what you will be hearing in the relatively near future. At least if the proposed bill H.R. 2159 passes.
Never heard of H.R. 2159? It is the “Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2009.” The bill would allow the United States Attorney General to disallow terrorists from purchasing, possessing, transporting, or selling firearms. While this may not sound like a bad deal at first glance, when you start to think about the implications, it gets a bit dicey.
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 bonds 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 to 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; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are 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; and 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.
The Napkin Prophecy
Have you ever had one of those moments where an idea hits you at the strangest of moments? This happened to me recently when my family and I were enjoying breakfast at one of our favorite breakfast eateries. When our food arrived at the table I asked the waitress for extra napkins, and it hit me.
Does asking the server for more napkins increase the chance that you will need them? Or is it simply being prepared in the event that they are needed? At what point does precaution become self-fulfilling prophecy?
At first, I dismissed the idea as the silly ramblings of a man who hasn’t had his coffee yet, but it stuck with me. I began to wonder if having a safety net would increase the likelihood of risky behavior or carelessness rather than simply provide a level of protection. Does the safety net make the trapeze artist more bold, more careless? Does the seat-belt or airbag act as enablers to the lead foot? What about government spending and the lack of accountability?