FREEDOMMost of us have been thinking of freedom lately, with it being the first week of July. I know I have. So I found an amusing photo in that vein. Let this be a reminder to us all. Freedoms and liberties can be taken away from us if we are not diligent. Even unlikely sources or from where we may perceive no threat.
"We will never be through with our fight for Liberty, because their will always be people who do not want the responsibility of freedom, and the will always be people who will gladly take that responsibility away from them, for the power it brings." N. Scott Mills
"America was established not to create wealth but to realize a vision, to realize an ideal-to discover and maintain liberty among men." Woodrow Wilson
"I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me Liberty or give me death." Patrick Henry
"We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first Revolution. Let the word Go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.... Let every Nation know, whether it wishes as well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to ensure the survival and success of Liberty." John Fitzgerald Kennedy
"The true danger is when Liberty is nibbled away, for expedients and by parts.... The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men do nothing." Edmund Burke
4 comments:
Benjamin Franklin once said, "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Now what does that really mean? I believe it to mean that if we are willing to allow a larger government greater control over our lives in the interest of enhancing the safety of the greater society, we are essentially giving up all our freedoms, and with them, our safeties.
That quote is just as important and relevant today, as it was in the early 1700's.
Liberty and freedom come from each of us. It is not issued to us by any government. It is up to us, as citizens, not to yearn and hope for others to yield us our freedoms, but to demand them and defend them with our lives if necessary.
I would like to take just a second to offer my most sincere gratitude, thanks and prayers to anyone who has ever worn a uniform in the name of the United States of America. Without your sacrifices, and those of your families and loved ones, I could not sit here in my home and breath free air tonight.
It is generally true that when you give up a specific liberty, willingly or otherwise, you never get it back. What was once a right becomes a privilege. What was once a privilege becomes questionable activity. What was once questionable activity becomes a crime. It’s nothing new.
Well put, gentlemen.
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