Freedom from Hatred

            The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is the simple fact that people from all walks of life can work together without any sign of hatred. Hurricane Harvey roared into Texas on Friday bringing devastating results to millions of people in Houston and surrounding areas. Many Texans did not wait for any government agency to bring rescue parties.

            Neighbors helped neighbors, and strangers rescued strangers. Citizen volunteers have become heroes. Just as police and fire fighters take time to come to the rescue in ordinary times, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) cannot immediately be there to help in emergency situations. William Long, the head of FEMA, stressed prior to the arrival of Harvey that people need to be prepared to help themselves and each other. He said, “People need to be the help before the help arrives.” Texas has shown the nation and the world how to do it.

            Genevieve Wood, Senior Contributor at The Daily Signal as well as a Texan, reports on the circumstances in Houston and shares the following insights on the situation.

There is no telling how many lives have been saved because countless individuals took it upon themselves to wade through streets searching for family, friends, and strangers trapped by rising flood waters, using their personal boats, kayaks, and jet skis to reach people rescue workers could not, and opening up their homes to those who had nowhere to go.

Remarkably, much of the major news media almost seems shocked by all the Good Samaritan stories coming out of Houston and other communities in southeast Texas rocked by the storm….

What we’ve witnessed in Texas is the best of America. People from different cultural and economic and racial backgrounds coming together to demonstrate that all lives matter and showing through actions, not protests, what it looks like to love they neighbor.

            Even though disasters like Harvey are never welcome, Texans stood up and faced the situation. They did what needed to be done when it needed to be done. They became the rescuers rather than waiting to be rescued. They showed us that people from all walks of life can work together for the greater good. Well done, Texas!