Among founders of our country – John Adams was a
strong-willed, stubborn person as am I.
He was forced to give up one of
his dearly held principles – the abolition of slavery—to get something greater
– the unanimous consent of other congressional representatives for the adoption
of the Declaration of Independence.
Watching the movie “1776” has long
been a July 4th tradition for me. It never fails to uplift and
inspire me. In addition to being an outstanding piece of theater, it is a
thoughtful presentation of history.
I took the advice of Hillsdale College
to read the declaration of Independence today as we celebrate the 240th
anniversary of its signing. As I reviewed the grievances against King George
and Great Britain that caused the colonies to separate from England, I noted
that many of those grievances are among the same problems we have today with
our Federal government and the personage of the current President – whom many
radical conservatives have affectionately labeled “King Barack”. He is
indeed a dictator who has been permitted to do pretty much anything he wants
with the country, in defiance of the Constitution and its separation of
powers. This has happened because Republicans in Congress do not have the
courage to oppose him, much less impeach him – which he richly deserves in my
opinion.
Liberalism has been allowed to spread
and dominate, despite the fact that the majority of Americans don’t agree with
or support things like the government’s sponsorship of crippling regulations
that stifle the economy and diminish individual freedoms.
I tend to rant and rave against this
sort of oppression, but I know that this oppression will surely continue until
enough people are sick and tired of it and rise up as one to overcome things
like the liberal leaning press and lying, pocket-lining politicians and
government officials.
Overcoming the current liberal
oppression cannot be done with just one election. It has to become a
constant battle and a consistent attitude that will risk persecution and
denunciation. We need to re-establish things like education
that teaches students how to think instead of telling them what to think.
We have to steel ourselves to constantly denounce, oppose, legislate against
and wage war to defeat terrorism and overcome political oppression from
lobbyists and opportunists on all sides of the issues who care more about
themselves than they care about what’s best for the country and humanity as a
whole. But all of this must be done out of a sense of wisdom, love,
patience and caring – not the angry, intolerance and unyielding stubbornness of
people like Betty Peters -- who knows that anybody who disagrees with her or
doesn’t do things her way is just wrong.
Even the pig-headed,
self-righteous John Adams eventually realized he had to yield to those who
supported the indecent cause of keeping slaves, in order to achieve the greater
good of American independence.
Perhaps Adams and his fellow
anti-slavery zealots throughout the newly formed United States realized that
the issue of slavery would eventually have to be resolved. The young
country almost ripped itself in half fighting a Civil War to abolish slavery.
The country was angry and
divided in those days, as it is now.
The issue of how we treat people
of color is still debated. It is one of the things that liberals throw in
the face of conservatives today. Though we have no slaves, we are told
that we must make reparations for past offenses. We are supposed to
kowtow and think of people of color as oppressed. It seems to me that
following that illogic is what continues to oppress everybody. It is what
one of my favorite conservative icons describes as the soft bigotry of low
expectations. We give in to the childish notion that government handouts
and quotas for Blacks and other so-called minorities will resolve all
problems, rather than encouraging everybody -- regardless of race, age, sexual preference,
religious and social affiliation - to lift themselves up to the best they can
be, to think and do for themselves, rather than expecting the government to do
everything for them, including
thinking.
God
created us all equally, but we are not all the same. God gave us all a mind so
that we could think and discern for ourselves rather than looking to the
government, the press, the church to think for us. We need to start
thinking and doing for ourselves as we learn to understand, respect and
celebrate our differences, instead of celebrating our insecurities and
pettiness by getting in people's faces if they are different from us or
disagree with us.
Whether we understand it or not;
whether we agree or not; whether we like it or not – it is the Spirit Of
America which continues to guide this country. Freedom is what God
has designed and ordained. Most certainly all groups and
individuals in this country can and should be participants in America and
freedom while realizing that it is not the exclusive province of any individual
or group.
Freedom and The Spirit of
America don’t take orders from individuals like Betty Peters, John Adams,
Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, Rush Limbaugh, Oprah Winfrey or
any other individual you care to name.
Freedom and The Spirit Of
America will not be controlled or dictated to by The New York Times, CNN, Fox
News, Labor unions, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Radical
Jihadists, Buddhists, The European Union, heterosexuals, homosexuals,
environmentalists, teachers, lawyers, news reporters, doctors, scientists,
members of the clergy, coal miners, shop keepers, Ohio State Buckeyes,
Washington Red Skins, Cleveland Cavaliers, or any other group -- not even the
mighty New England Patriots. Of course the Spirit of America needs
patriots, but not necessarily patriots who are little more than fanatics -- whether
their passion be football or some other popular pastime.
It has been a rainy, cloudy
Independence Day here in Columbus, Ohio. I hope the rain passes by
and holds off long enough so that we can have fireworks. I can see our
local fireworks from my window.
I can see freedom and the Spirit of America from my window
and in my mind's eye. It is always looking forward. The
cause of freedom is constantly bursting forth like fireworks overhead, because
the Spirit of America formed this country for that purpose.
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