Will America Learn the Lesson of Hanukkah?

According to Jason Bedrick and Daniel Flesch, America needs to learn the lesson of Hanukkah. This week marks the beginning of Hanukkah and the lighting of menorahs in “what may be the most explicitly Zionist holiday in the Jewish calendar.” The authors explained their belief in their article published at The Daily Signal. 

The story of Hanukkah recounts the Maccabean Revolt of the second century B.C.E. After the Seleucid Greeks sought to suppress Jewish religious practice and identity, Jews fought to reclaim sovereignty in their homeland.

The Maccabees wanted the Jews to have independence in the land of Judea so they could worship God according to the dictates of their conscience.

In other words, Hanukkah is a celebration of religious liberty and Jewish national liberation.

The Jewish people survived two millennia of statelessness, persecution, pogroms, expulsions and a holocaust by maintaining a deep connection to these biblical roots – a lesson America must heed in its times of political turmoil.

Even in times of darkness – including in defiance of the Nazi regime – the menorah’s light served as a beacon of hope and resilience, a reminder of the miracle of Jewish endurance against all odds.

Today, just as the Jewish state draws strength from its ancient connections to the Land and God of Israel, America will flourish only if we remain committed to the Judeo-Christian heritage that forms our nation’s foundation….

… the Zionist aspiration is as old as the Jewish people itself and foundational to Judaism.

It begins with God promising the Land of Israel to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which was fulfilled in the wake of the Israelites’ Exodus from Egypt.

Following the Roman destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E., the yearning to return to home and rebuild the Temple has been woven into the fabric of Jewish ritual and liturgy.

Every Passover seder and Yom Kippur service conclude with “Next year in Jerusalem.” Jews also pray facing Jerusalem.

Despite nearly 2,000 years of exile, the Jewish people’s enduring commitment to their foundational story and principles provides the foundation for Israel’s resilience today.

This same story of Jewish perseverance inspired the men and women who built America.

As our Heritage Foundation colleague Katie Pavlich recently observed, the “history of America and Israel didn’t start in 1948. It goes back to 1776 when American rebels looked to the Promised Land, its foundational story, and were inspired to reject the British Empire in pursuit of their own nation.”

Authors cite: (1) “Benjamin Franklin’s proposal for America’s Great Seal” to be “Moses extending His hand over the Red Sea.” (2) A letter from President George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation of Savannah in 1790 drawing “parallels between America’s founding and the Israelites’ exodus” to their Promised Land. (3) John Adams’ letter to Mordecai Manuel Noah, Jewish American patriot, pledging his “support for Jewish restoration to their homeland.”

Indeed, the concepts of covenant, rule of law, limited government, human dignity and justice that shape the American constitutional order stem from the biblical tradition. They are not arbitrary human constructs, but principles derived from the understanding that human beings are endowed by our Creator with inherent dignity and purpose….

The parallel between Israel and America is instructive. The Jewish state flourishes because of its people’s connection to their ancient heritage and founding principles. Similarly, America’s strength depends on our faithfulness to the principles that shaped our founding.

Those who seek to cut America off from its Judeo-Christian roots would destroy the tree of liberty itself. Just as a tree severed from its roots cannot long survive, nor, too, can a nation that abandons its founding principles….

The founding principles of America are found in Christianity, an off shoot of Judeo roots. Ancient American prophets, as taught in the Book of Mormon – Another Testament of Jesus Christ, testified that those people who live in America must worship the God of this land, even Jesus Christ, or be swept off the land. America must stay true to its foundation of Jesus Christ.

Will Americans Choose Populism and Liberty or Liberalism?

The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday concerns liberalism versus populism. Popularism arose in opposition to liberalism. Americans did not like what was happening to their country in the name of liberalism and began looking for a leader that they could trust. The Tea Party arose in opposition to what Democrats were doing under President Barack Obama.

Then Donald Trump announced in 2015 that he was a candidate for President of the United States. Americans liked what Trump was saying and voted for him. Under the Trump administration, the borders of the United States became the most secure they have ever been. The leaders of Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea backed off from their threats towards the United States. The economy was roaring, and life was good in America.

Trump should have run re-election, but something happened to thwart his campaign. Joe Biden entered the Oval Office, and the United States began to go downhill under the policies of the Biden administration. Americans are now wide awake and are seeing the effects of Democrat policies. They are currently searching for another leader. Do they go with the tried- and-true leader but hated Trump, or do they go with someone else who has not proven their ability to make America great again? Trump’s base remains strong, but he needs Never-Trumpers, Independents, and even Democrats to join his cause: Make America Great Again.”

Patrick Deneen published an interesting article in the Deseret News about populism and liberalism. He began his article by stating, “Liberalism has generated its own undoing.” Further into the article, he wrote the following: 

Several hundred years into this experiment, we have witnessed at firsthand the rise of a new ruling class, a “meritocracy” that has thrived under the conditions established and advanced by liberalism. Liberalism is today in crisis, not just because of the bad behavior of the new elite, but because its rise has corresponded with the attrition of institutions that benefited the lower classes while restraining the ambitious who wished to escape its restraints. The weakening of the family, neighborhood, association, church and religious community, and other associations has resulted in the degradation of the social and economic conditions of “the many,” even as “the few” have garnered a monopoly both on economic and social advantages.

In the advanced liberal democracies across the world, working-class voters have risen up to reject the leaders who have regarded those who have been “left behind” with disdain and contempt. In response, liberalism has unmasked itself, revealing itself as an ideology that is willing to force those who oppose it into submission, and advancing an increasingly “illiberal” liberalism. Efforts to limit the political power of the culturally dispossessed and economically disadvantaged – frequently by accusing majorities of being “anti-democratic” – increasingly reveal liberalism not to be a mutually shared comprehensive system that allows self-determination, but rather a particular partisan set of commitments. Once an unassailable public philosophy, liberalism has been delegitimized.

The surge of a largely unorganized “populism” has arisen because of the degraded conditions that liberalism has created among the masses. Both social and economic conditions are measurably worse among the working classes across the western world, even as life has gotten better for the liberal ruling class. What is often called “progress” – globalized economic expansion and the dismantling of traditional social mores – has largely benefited only a small liberal elite. Like the revolutions against the ancient regime, the current order has lost support of the demos.

These degraded conditions have arisen not because liberalism has failed, but because it has succeeded. Titanic economic inequality and a fraying social fabric are the results of realizing liberalism’s conception of liberty. Ancient ideals of liberty as self-rule, requiring duty and self-sacrifice, were replaced with the liberal understanding of freedom: doing as one likes. Realization of liberal freedom has led to a hyper-individualistic order that weakens national economic solidarity and tends toward the dismantling of social institutions.

The institutions of family, religion and government raised guardrails on the otherwise natural appetites and desires that, when succumbed to, resulted in what the classical and Biblical tradition regarded as a condition of servitude or slavery. The person who succumbed to lower nature not only had the soul of a slave, but also had the soul of a tyrant – a gluttony for power that would allow the enslaved tyrant to commit any act, any crime, any awful deed. All of the citizenry, including the powerful, needed to be habituated to the virtue that accorded with this classical ideal of freedom, and the guardrails helped with that education for liberty.

Under the new definition of liberty, what had previously been considered as guardrails came instead to be regarded as oppressions and unjust limitations on individual liberty. As a result, the advance of liberal liberty has meant the gradual, and then accelerating weakening, redefinition or overthrowing of many formative institutions and practices of human life, whether family, the community, a vast array of associations, schools and universities, architecture, the arts and even the churches. In their place, a flattened world invites: the wide-open spaces of liberal freedom, a vast and widening playground for the project of self-creation.

Today, the story of liberalism’s tearing down of guardrails is often told as a progress from heroic overcoming of past injustices to a present moment of enlightenment, justice, liberty and equality. Oppressed people are liberated from the unjust constraints of an earlier age. Anyone questioning the story is accused of defending privilege and nostalgically craving to reinstitute the injustices of a benighted past.

Deneen’s article is much longer, but I encourage you to study it. The bottom line is that the liberalism envisioned and created by our forefathers has been abused and bastardized into what we have in America today. Americans can either rise up and vote Democrats and other liberals out of office, or we can continue down the road that we are currently traveling. If we choose to do the latter, we have no one but ourselves to blame when we lose true liberty and freedom.

What Are Conservative Values?

 

2022-10-11 What Are Conservative Values and Why Do They Matter?

            Some people believe that the rising generation is more liberal than conservative. I would say that there is a good chance of them being more liberal because they are exposed to more left-wing values as they move through the educational system from elementary school to graduate school. Left-wing values are also taught by the society surrounding them – the movies, television programs, social media, and even Disneyland, according to Dennis Prager. 

            Prager indicated that the rising generation is not being exposed to conservative values unless parents are teaching them in the home. I agree with Prager on this point. I am obviously conservative to anyone who reads my blog, but I am the most conservative member of my family. I do not know, but I believe that all my children voted for Joe Biden in the last election. My only consolation is that they all live in states where their votes were countered by more conservative votes. This is important to me because it means that my children, despite voting for him, are not responsible for the election of the worst president in the history of the United States.

            Even though my children may not vote for conservative candidates, I believe that they hold conservative values. They are all married to a member of the opposite sex. They are all productive members of society, and they go about doing good. In my mother’s heart, I believe that they all recognize that Biden was a poor choice for POTUS. So, I believe that their values are more conservative than liberal. So what are conservative values?

            Prager believes that “the most important conservative value [is] liberty.” He wrote, “Conservatives believe in individual liberty … the primary value of the American experiment.” He gave the following examples to prove his point about America emphasizing liberty more than other nations do.

 

·         The French designers of the Statue of Liberty gave the statue to America.

·         The iconic symbol of America is the Liberty Bell.

·         The one inscription on the Liberty Bell is a verse about liberty from the Book of Leviticus: “And you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants.”

·         Americans sing of their country as “the land of the free” and “sweet land of liberty.”

·         Until recently, every America schoolchild knew by heart Patrick Henry’s cry, “Give me liberty, or give me death!”

·         Chinese young people who protested the communist takeover of Hong Kong waved the American flag.

 

Prager continued by stating that liberty was important to the Founders. They understood that large governments are not compatible with liberty. They believed that a central government was necessary, but they wanted it to be as small and limited as possible. Prager pointed out that there are other victims of big government besides liberty.

 

Moreover, liberty is not the only victim of big government. Human life is also a victim. Every genocide of the 20th century, the century of genocide, was committed by big government. Without big government, 100 million people would not and could not have been slaughtered, and a billion more would not and could not have been enslaved. (There was one exception: the Hutu genocide of Tutsis in Rwanda, which was tribal in nature. Tribal culture, like left-wing culture, emphasizes the group over the individual.)

In order to limit the size and power of the national government, the Founders delegated most governmental powers to the states. They did so in the Constitution by specifying what powers the national government had and by asserting that all other powers be delegated to the states.

In addition, they increased the power of the states by having presidential elections decided by the states—the Electoral College—rather than by the popular national vote, and by how they structured the Senate, one of the two branches of Congress. They gave every state equal representation in the Senate, no matter how small the population of the state….

Liberty is a liberal value as well as a conservative value, but it has never been a left-wing value. Liberty cannot be a left-wing value, because the more liberty individuals have, the less power the government has. Conversely, the weaker the state, the weaker the Left.

            The left-wing that is currently controlling the federal government wants power. The desire for more power is the reason why they keep threatening to get rid of the Electoral College and to change the rules of the Senate. They want all the power, and they are willing to destroy America to get it. To save America, we all need to vote RED in the November election.

Agency, Freedom, Independence, Liberty

What is the connection between agency, freedom, independence, and liberty? Do these words all basically mean the same thing or is there a difference?

The prophets and scriptures teach us that we had moral agency in our premortal home with Heavenly Father. "Thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee" (Moses 3:17). We used our agency in the premortal Council in Heaven when a conflict arose between the followers of Jesus Christ and the followers of Satan. Heavenly Father presented His plan for the happiness of His children; His plan included the use of individual moral agency and a Savior. Lucifer - also known as Satan - didn't like our Father's plan and presented an alternate plan. "Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor" (Moses 4:1). When he made this statement, he "rebelled against [God] and sought to destroy the agency of man" (Moses 4:3). We were given the opportunity to vote for either Heavenly Father's plan or for Satan's plan. We know that we supported the plan of our Father in Heaven because we are here on earth with bodies. Satan's plan was rejected, and he and his followers were cast out of heaven without the opportunity to ever obtain bodies. (See Doctrine and Covenants 29:36-37.) Our choices in heaven made us worthy to come to earth.

One of the purposes for our lives here on earth is to learn to use our moral agency correctly and to show Heavenly Father that we can make correct choices. The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us that we are free to choose liberty and eternal life by following the teaching of Christ; we are also free to choose captivity and death by following Satan. (See 2 Nephi 2:27.) This right to choose either good or evil and to act for ourselves is called agency.

Our life on earth is a period of testing. When planning for the mortal creation of His spirit children, our Heavenly Father said, "We will prove [or test] them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abraham 3:25). Without this wonderful gift of agency, we would not have the ability to pass the test or to show Heavenly Father that we will do all that He commands us to do. Because we have been given the gift of agency or the ability to choose, we are each responsible for our own actions. (See Helaman 14:30-31).

We can strengthen our agency by choosing to live according to God's plan for us. When we make right choices, we increase our ability to make more right choices. We also grow in wisdom and strength of character and faith. Our ability to make right choices increases. Our Heavenly Father gave us commandments to help us choose righteousness. He wants us to grow in faith, power, knowledge, wisdom, and all other good things in order than we can become like Him. (See Doctrine and Covenants 93:28.)

In order for us to choose righteousness, there must be opposites of good and evil. Lehi, a great prophet in the Book of Mormon told his son Jacob, there must be "an opposition in all things. If not so, … righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad" (2 Nephi 2:11).

God allows Satan to oppose righteousness. God said of Satan, "I caused that he should be cast down;
"And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice" (Moses 4:3-4).

Satan does all that he can do to destroy the work of God for he seeks "the misery of all mankind…. He seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself" (2 Nephi 2:18, 27). Satan does not love anyone; he does not want us to find happiness or to have anything that is good in our lives. (See Moroni l7:17.) In fact, Satan wants us to be his slaves, and he uses many disguises to deceive us and to enslave us.

When we make bad choices and follow the temptations of Satan, we limit our choices. We are free to choose our actions, but we are not free to choose the consequences of those actions. Consequences, whether good or bad, follow as a nature result of any choice made. (See Galatians 6:7; Revelation 22:12.)

God's commandments help us to use our agency wisely and to move away from the dangers of wickedness. When we choose wisely, we enjoy perfect happiness and move toward exaltation and eternal progression.

Agency is a gift from God that we were given in our heavenly home. We used it there to make correct choices, and we can use it on earth to make righteous choices. In order to use our agency, we must be able to choose between good and evil, good and better, or better and best. This opportunity to choose comes through freedom and liberty.

Freedom, independence, and liberty are often used interchangeably. Freedom is described as "the condition of being free of restraints; liberty of the person from slavery, detention, or oppression; political independence; exemption from the arbitrary exercise of authority in the performance of a specific action; exemption from an unpleasant or onerous condition; the capacity to exercise choice; free will; ease or facility of movement; … a right or the power to engage in certain actions without control or interference" (The American Heritage College Dictionary, fourth edition, p. 552).

The same dictionary defines liberty as "the condition of being free from restriction or control; the right and power to act, believe, or express oneself in a manner of one's own choosing; the condition of being physically and legally free from confinement, servitude, or forced labor; freedom from unjust or undue governmental control" (p. 798).

Independence is described in the same dictionary as the quality of being "not governed by a foreign power; self-governing; free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant" (p. 704).

Using these definitions, I conclude that moral agency - the ability to choose between right and wrong - is a gift from God. We brought this great gift with us when we came to earth. Freedom is the condition of being free from anything that would bind us or control us. Liberty is freedom from unjust or undue governmental control. Independence is freedom from foreign powers. As individuals, we can exercise the gift of agency only when we are living in a state of freedom or liberty such as we have in the United States. Under these circumstances, we can become self-reliant and independent by the choices we make. Therefore, independence and self-reliance are built upon freedoms and liberty and come by exercising agency.

Our founding fathers and mother understood the importance of liberty and the responsibility of agency in obtaining it. They also understood that independence was not going to come without a difficult struggle. The Declaration of Independence closes with these words, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."

Samuel Adams told those who were loyal to England, "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen."

Benjamin Franklin spoke the following truth: "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

John Adams understood that there are certain requirements we must meet if we want to have liberty and independence. He said, "Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among people." He also said, "While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader…. If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security."

There is little doubt about the feelings Patrick Henry held toward liberty: "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!

As we continue in our efforts to maintain our freedoms, liberty and independence, it is important that we understand the truths written by William Boetcker, a German-born Presbyterian clergyman (1873-1962): "You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men's initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves" ("The Ten Cannots" (1916) - often falsely attributed to Abraham Lincoln) [http://www.cincinnatiskeptics.org/blurbs/Lincoln-cannots.html]

We cannot build ourselves up by tearing someone else down, but by working together we can become united and independent. Our Heavenly Father wants His children to be free in order to exercise their God-given agency. We will remain free and independent as long as we worship the God of this land who is Jesus Christ. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can obtain true liberty.

Freedom to Choose

Families grow stronger as they understand that the foundation for freedom and liberty is moral agency – the freedom to choose. We had agency when we lived as spirits in heaven before we came to this earth. While we lived with our Father in Heaven, He presented His plan for our happiness. He explained that He had prepared a new home for us where we would receive physical bodies and learn many things that we could not learn in heaven. He told us that we would have the ability to choose how we wanted to live our lives on earth. He said that we would one day return to live with Him if we made good choices.

After Father in Heaven presented His plan, another plan was presented to us by Lucifer. Lucifer's plan would insure that we all returned to heaven. To do this, our agency would be taken from us - and we would be forced to be good. There was a war in heaven (Revelation 12:7) because those who chose to follow Lucifer's plan wanted to force everyone else to choose it also. Those who wanted to keep their agency or freedom to choose won the war in heaven and were allowed to come to earth, receive bodies, and learn new things. Those who wanted to use force were cast out of heaven without bodies.

Among those who came to earth are some people who think they are so intelligent that they want to tell others how to live their lives. These people are sometimes called social engineers. They like to use the force of the government to change mankind and to cause them to fit a master plan. These plans are very much like the plan we rejected in heaven.

Many different programs are used to change mankind through the force of the government. Progressives are currently trying to gain control of the citizens in this nation by forcing some of these programs on our nation under the mask of health care reform, climate change, cap and trade, etc. Previous programs in other countries fell under the titles of Nazism, fascism, socialism, and communism. They were all administered under the control of a dictator such as Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot, etc.

We fought a war in heaven over agency. Heavenly Father considered agency to be so important that He allowed one-third of the hosts of heaven - His children - to rebel and to choose to live another way.

Our nation was founded on liberty - the freedom to use our God-given agency to make choices. Our Founders fought and won a war that we might have liberty. Now we are in a war to see if we can retain our liberty. The words agency, freedom, independence, and liberty all describe the Right to Choose. Understanding the importance of moral agency helps all of us to be stronger.

Liu Xiaobo

Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese democracy activist, is the recipient of the 2010 Nobel Peace Price. It appears that he truly deserves the prize – unlike others who have received it in recent years. We have not heard much about the activities of Liu Xiaobo because the European and American media tend to cover up China’s internal and international acts. China considers his writing to be subversive and has censored his name.

Liu, age 54, was born December 28, 1955, in Changchun, Jilin, People’s Republic of China. His alma maters are Jilin University and Beijing Normal University.

Liu, a Chinese intellectual and writer, is also a human rights activist and a political prisoner in China. He was detained on December 8, 2008, and formally arrested on June 23, 2009, on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” After his trial on the charges on December 23, 2009, he was sentenced on December 25, 2009, to eleven years in prison and two years of being deprived of political rights. This imprisonment is Liu’s fourth prison term. The Chinese government does not like him because he wants democratic elections, freedom values, separation of powers, and accountable governments.

Liu Xiaobo was first detained in June 1989 for his part in the Tiananmen Square protest. He was convicted on charges of “counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement.” He was then ordered in October 1996 to be re-educated by labor for three years. He was charged with “disturbing public order” for criticizing the Chinese Communist Party. Liu was released in 1999, but apparently he was not yet free. The government built a sentry station next to his home and tapped his telephone line and internet connections. His computer, letters and documents were confiscated by the government in 2004 when he started to write a report on human rights in China. Liu was again detained and questioned in 2007 about his articles being published on websites outside Mainland China.

Liu received the 2010 Nobel Peace Price for “his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” The Chinese government was not happy about Liu Xiaobo being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and warned the Nobel committee that it would be against Nobel principles to give the prize to Liu. All news of the award was censored and some of it was blocked in China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued the following statement, “The Nobel Peace Prize is meant to award individuals who promote international harmony and friendship, peace and disarmament. Liu Xiaobo is a criminal who has been sentenced by Chinese judicial departments for violating Chinese law. Awarding the peace to Liu runs completely counter to the principle of the award and is also a desecration of the Peace Prize.”

Human right lawyers and academics attempted to honor Liu Xiaobo with a banquet, but they were stopped by Beijing police. Other meetings to recognize the award were “prevented by authorities, and prominent intellectuals and other dissidents were detained, harassed or put under surveillance.”

After the award was announced, Liu Xia, Liu’s wife, was put under house arrest, but she has not been charged with any crime yet. Facts and quotes are from Wikipedia.

I wrote about Liu in an effort to better dramatize the differences between a democratic republic and a Communistic republic. I think it is very important that people who enjoy liberty be aware that millions of other people live in very controlled environments. I am grateful to live in liberty. Long live the USA!

Manifest Destiny

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is that the United States must be an example and blessing to every other nation on earth because it has a manifest destiny to do so. From Christopher Columbus to the Pilgrims and Puritans to the Founding Father - all American settlers felt a strong sense of mission. They felt that they were part of a divine plan and had a manifest destiny to bless all human beings. John Adams stated, "I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth." (Quoted in Conrad Cherry, God's New Israel, p 65). This same idea of manifest destiny continues today as expressed by every new President of the United States. Our Founders - as well as many Americans today - felt the responsibility to provide superior leadership and service to the people of the world. Our Founders understood that they had created a unique government, and they felt the responsibility to make it successful. John Jay, one of the Founders, wrote: "It has often given me pleasure to observe that independent America was not composed of detached and distant territories, but that one connected, fertile, wide-spreading country was the portion of our western sons of liberty. Providence has in a particular manner blessed it with a variety of soils and productions and watered it with innumerable streams for the delight and accommodation of its inhabitants. A succession of navigable waters forms a kind of chain round its borders, as if to bind it together; while the most noble rivers in the world, running at convenient distances, present them with highways for the easy communication of friendly aids and the mutual transportation and exchange of their various commodities. John Jay added, "With equal pleasure I have often taken notice that Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people - a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established their general liberty and independence." John Jay ended with these thoughts: "This country and this people seem to have been made for each other and it appears as if it was the design of Providence that an inheritance so proper and convenient for a band of brethren, united to each other by the strongest of ties, should never be split into a number of unsocial, jealous, and alien sovereignties" (The Federalist Papers, No 2, p 38). The Founders of our nation shared the same opinion of our nation as many ancient prophets who wrote that America is a promised land which is choice above all other lands. A prophet named Lehi said that if the inhabitants of this land will keep God's commandments, they will prosper and no other nation will molest them nor take away the land. In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord Jesus Christ said, "According to the laws and Constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles; … And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood" (Doctrine and Covenants 101:77, 80). According to this scripture, our Founders were correct in their idea that America has a manifest destiny to be a blessing to all human beings. America and Americans must be prepared to show the people and nations of the world that our example is a good one to follow. Some of the ideas and quotes for this post came from W. Cleon Skousen, The Five Thousand Year Leap, pp 215-219.

Teach Liberty

Parents in the United States have the responsibility to teach the principles of liberty to their children. Ronald Reagan said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States when men were free."

My grandparents' generation fought World War I - the Great War or the war to end all wars. My parents' generation fought World War II. The heroes from these wars came home to parades and honors. My father was too old to serve in the military, but he left home and family to find work in order to provide for them. He ended up thousands of miles away in Alaska working for a railroad. He was on a crew that blasted tunnels through mountains in order that the railroad could reach the town of Whittier in Prince William Sound. Whittier was a more hidden port to which military supplies could be shipped, and a railroad through the mountains would be less likely to be bombed than one that crossed the mountains.

My generation was a mixed up group. We had the hippies who were rebelling from the life their parents had provided for them. The previous generation made great sacrifices and endured much hardship, and they wanted a better life for their children. The children, however, rejected the life that their parents offered, and some of those rebellious children hold leadership positions in our nation today. They are still in rebellion from the lives of their parents and are now trying to "fundamentally transform our nation."

My generation also fought the Vietnam War - a war we could have won and should have won if it had not become politicized. Our military heroes came home from this war to jeers and disrespect.

My children have known three wars - the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War. Even though these wars are not popular, the people at least support the military. For this I am very grateful!

There are people who want to destroy America and liberty. We must fight for and protect the freedoms we enjoy in order that our children and grandchildren can also enjoy them. We do not want them to grow up in a socialist nation because we want them to be free. We want them to love the United States, and we want them to know that America is the greatest nation on earth.

When Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, he was asked if the framers had created a monarchy or a republic. He answered, "A republic - if you can keep it."

Can we keep our republic? In the "olden days" the people who came to America wanted to be Americans. Today we have many people who think so little of America that they come here illegally, do not assimilate, have stickers on their cars saying that they "love" another country, fly a flag of another country, and seem to want to make America into whatever country they left.

True Americans love the United States and are grateful to be here. Are you an American or do you just live in America? I believe it is up to each true American to do something - anything - that will help our nation to stay free. We can no longer afford to sit idly by and talk of trivial things. This is a time to persuade ourselves, our posterity, and our friends to come to the aid of our nation. We must plant our flag and make our stand - or we will lose the opportunity to do so. If we stand tall now, we will never have to face our children and grandchildren and explain why we didn't do anything to save our republic. It is time for all true Americans to stand tall and to come to the aid of their country!

Life, Liberty, and Property

The liberty principle for this Freedom Friday is that security of life and liberty depends on the right to own property. In the eyes of our Founding Fathers, the protection of property was a primary purpose for government. They considered private property to be a foundation stone that protected life and liberty. John Adams said, "The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist." (Charles Francis Adams.) We live in an age of government entitlement programs that take property from the "halves" and give it to the "have nots." Our current leaders seem to believe that they have the right to redistribute the wealth of some citizens to other citizens as well as to other countries. It appears that James Madison looked through the ages and saw our day when he said, "Government is instituted to protect property of every sort…. This being the end of government, that alone is not a just government, … nor is property secure under it, where the property which a man has in his personal safety and personal liberty is violated by arbitrary seizures of one class of citizens for the service of the rest." (Saul Padover, ed, The Complete Madison, p 267.) Redistribution of wealth is unconstitutional. It is unlawful to take property from one person to give it to another person, whether by an individual or a government. A society is corrupted when the government violates the principle of property rights. For this reason, all entitlement programs should be phased out. Many people worry about what would happen to the elderly, the poor, the sick and the needy if there were no more Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Obamacare, etc. President Grover Cleveland said the following after vetoing legislation designed to charge taxes to pay for private welfare problems: "I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the power and duty of the General Government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering which is in no manner properly related to the public service or benefit. A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited mission of this power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that the lesson should be constantly enforced that though the people support the government the Government should not support the people. "The friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve their fell citizens in misfortune. This has been repeatedly and quite lately demonstrated. Federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the Government and weakens the sturdiness of our national character, while it prevents the indulgence among our people of that kindly sentiment and conduct which strengthens the bonds of a common brotherhood." ("Why the President said No," in Essays on Liberty, 12 Vols., 3:255; my emphasis.) President Cleveland understood that family, friends and neighbors helping each other would bring more common good than handouts by the government. He understood the "general welfare" phrase in the Preamble means exactly what it says. Government is responsible for the welfare of Americans as a whole but not as individuals. It is sad that we don't have some Grover Cleveland's in Washington, D.C. today! Ideas and quotes for this post came from The Five Thousand Year Leap by W. Cleon Skousen, pp 123-129.

Right to Govern

Today is Freedom Friday. The liberty principle for today is that the God-given right to govern is vested in the people. In other words the people have the divine right to govern themselves and exercise the power to select and/or depose their leaders. The leaders should understand that they are merely servants and are responsible to represent the will of the people as a whole. When an elected or appointed official misuses the authority of the people and form an abusive type of government, the people have the authority to "alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government…." (Declaration of Independence).

Unalienable Rights

For this Freedom Friday, let's discuss the principle of liberty that all men "are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." We know from this statement in the Declaration of Independence that the Founders understood that the basic rights of mankind come directly from God and not from any government authority. These unalienable rights are also called natural rights. No one has the authority to take these rights from us without answering to God, but we can use our agency unwisely and forfeit them. It is important that we understand that our basic rights come from God and not from the government. Rights that come from God can be taken away only by God. Rights that come from the government are often taken away by the government. If we believe our unalienable rights come from the government, then there is a good chance that government will start to take those rights away from us. The rights created by governments are called vested rights. They include such rights as the opportunity to hunt in a certain area or season and the opportunity to use a certain highway. These are the kinds of rights that the government has authority to change or take from us. The Founders did not include all of mankind's unalienable or natural rights in the Declaration of Independence. Some other natural rights are enumerated in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights: the right to self-government, the right to bear arms, the right to worship as we choose, the right to a fair trial, the right of free press, the right to petition our government, the right to speak freely, and the right to assemble. There are still other natural rights such as the right to choose our own mate, profession, and to have children. The phrase "pursuit of happiness" was well understood at the time it was written, but some people in our day question what it means. John Adams clearly explained it when he stated, "All men are born free and independent, and have certain natural, essential, and unalienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness." (George A. Peek, Jr., ed., The Political Writings of John Adams, Liberal Arts press, New York, 1954, p 96, as quoted by W. Cleon Skousen in The 5000 Year Leap, p 96).

Religion Is Essential to Liberty

This principle of freedom is that religion is essential to a government of free people. Most, if not all, of our Founding Fathers believed that religion and morality were essential for good government as well as happiness and that these topics should be taught in the schools. No specific religion was to be taught, but the universal truths, which were acceptable to all religions, were necessary. W. Cleon Skousen quoted Benjamin Franklin when he summarized basic religious beliefs as "fundamental points in all sounds religion" in a letter to Ezra Stiles, Yale University president: "Here is my creed: I believe in one God, the Creator of the universe. That he governs it by his providence. That he ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion." (Smyth, Writings of Benjamin Franklin, 10:84.) Skousen then explained Franklin's statement of the "five points of fundamental religious beliefs. 1) There exists a Creator who made all things and mankind should recognize and worship him. 2) The Creator has revealed a moral code of behavior for happy living which distinguishes between right and wrong. 3) The Creator holds mankind responsible for the way they treat each other. 4) All mankind live beyond this life. 5) In the next life mankind are judged for their conduct in this one" (The Five Thousand Year Leap, p 61). Even though the Founders considered these core beliefs to be America's religion, they wanted all religions to have equal protection under the Constitution. They wanted the citizens to have morality, religion, and virtue, but they did not want the federal government favoring any one religion or church. This is what Thomas Jefferson meant when he said that the Constitution created "a wall of separation between Church and State" (Beigh, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 16:282, as quoted in The Five Thousand Year Leap, p 69).

Progressive Movement

The progressive movement is destroying our freedoms and liberties. This movement started around the turn of last century and is very strong today. Progressives gave us the Federal Reserve. They brought redistribution of wealth through the progressive income tax. They brought us the League of Nations, then the United Nations. They brought in Prohibition to force people into better health by denying them alcohol. They brought in the idea that our Constitution is a flawed, living, breathing document and that our Founding Fathers were a bunch of rich racists.

Progressives today speak a different language. When they say "economic justice" they really mean "taking from the halves and giving to the have nots." When they speak of "social justice" they want "someone to step down so that someone else can have a turn." When then-Presidential Nominee Barack Obama said, "We are five days away from fundamentally transforming the United States of America" he really meant that he was on the verge of "collapsing the state as we know it and rebooting it as a progressive utopia."

What most people call socialism, progressives call social justice. They seem to really believe that they are making things better. There have been numerous attempts by progressives to take over the government of the United States, and the modern-day progressives have learned from the earlier attempts to transform America. The speed with which government has taken over private industry in the past year shows that there was a plan in place long before the election was held.

Progressives now live by these rules: 1) No debate is allowed. People like Al Gore have said things like, "The discussion is over." They know that truth will prevail if it is allowed out in the open. Look what happened at the climate change conference in December. 2) This transformation cannot be conducted in the open. Health reform is a good example of this. The leaders of both the House and the Senate denied all proposals that were not part of their plan to take over our health care system. Obama and the other elected stooges are now meeting in secret to determine the future of Americans' health care. 3) They never let a good crisis go to waste. They are just waiting for something really bad to happen in order to take over our country.

Those people who are truly listening to the words of the progressives and watching their actions recognize that these rules are in place and are being used. The people who are basically responsible for the overwhelming and possible collapse of our economic system are Richard Cloward and Francis Fox Piven, authors of the Cloward-Piven strategy. They wrote about collapsing the economy and how to do it in an article they wrote in the 1960's called, "Mobilizing the Poor: How it Could Be Done." It was published in The Nation, under the title "The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty." Cloward and Piven were radical professors at Columbia in the 1960's. They believed in "change" and "social justice." They wrote a plan to put Saul Alinsky's social change for America into effect. Their plan was to overwhelm the system and cause capitalism to fail. To do this, they would overload the government bureaucracy and bring on economic collapse by impossible demands. In a ten-year period, from 1964 until 1974, the total number of people on welfare rose from 4.3 million to 10.8 million. New York City alone had 1 million welfare recipients in 1975 and declared bankruptcy.

More than twenty years later, Mayor Rudy Giuliani was still trying to deal with some of the problems. He referred to the Cloward and Piven strategy while describing the economic sabotage. He said, "This wasn't an accident; it wasn't an atmospheric thing; it wasn't supernatural. It was the result of policies, choices and a philosophy that was embraced in the 1960's and then enthusiastically endorsed in the City of New York." He went on to say, "This is the result of policies and programs designed to have the maximum number of people get on welfare" (Video Clip dated July 20, 1998).

Hard-working American taxpayers grew tired of providing money to able-bodied welfare recipients generation after generation, and welfare reform was begun. After the welfare reform bill was signed by Bill Clinton in 1996, millions of people were taken off the welfare rolls. Meanwhile, the progressives turned to other means to overwhelm the system. One way was to register all the dead-beats to vote. Bill Clinton signed the Motor Voter Bill into law in 1993 and invited Richard Cloward and his wife, Frances Fox Piven to the signing. Now they are working on a plan to provide amnesty to all undocumented workers who are in our country illegally.

Numerous Presidents of the United States have been progressives, including Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. John McCain is a progressive and would have taken us down the same path that Obama is taking us but at a slower pace. Obama's speed has caused many people, including myself, to wake up to what is happening.

Progressives have become part of the system of our national government. Hilary Clinton wrote her college thesis on Saul Alinsky and has proclaimed herself to be a "modern progressive." I encourage everyone to study and learn more about how progressivism started and where it wants to take our country. A good place to start is by listening to Glenn Beck interview Matthew Spalding, director of the Heritage Foundation's Center for American Studies. This interview explains a lot about progressivism.

Today I was listening to an address given by Ronald Reagan at the 1964 Republican National Convention. He was talking about Russia and the threat of communism, but I was shocked by how much his words apply to our nation right now. I really recommend that you listen to the entire speech. Here is just one quote from it: "This is the issue of the election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves."

The freedoms and liberties that we enjoy are being threatened right now. Our economic system is on the verge of collapse due to the massive national debt. Each American citizen - man, woman and child - now owes more than $340,000! Americans must wake up and realize what is happening or it will be too late to stop the progressive program before it destroys our nation.

Secure the Blessings of Liberty

The seventh principle of the United States Constitution is the last one found in the Preamble: The purpose of the Constitution was to secure the blessings of liberty to the Founders and to their posterity. This principle tells us that Americans have the Right to expect their government to protect the freedom of the people from that time forward. "The Constitution was designed to provide a `divided, balanced, limited' government so that it would remain in the center of the political spectrum and not drift toward anarchy or tyranny. "The Founders were well aware, however, that no structure of government, regardless of how perfect, would long remain in full force and effect unless the people were trained in knowledge and qualities of virtuous character to make it operate successfully" (W. Cleon Skousen in The Making of America - The Substance and Meaning of the Constitution, p 245). Skousen listed numerous quotes which show clearly that our Founders were very concerned with preserving liberty. One of the quotes tells us that power will corrupt even good people. Other quotes explain that we should grant our leaders no more power than absolutely needed to do their jobs. Power belongs to the people, but corrupt leaders will take as much power as they can get, even until there is complete tyranny. Other quotes tell us that we should always be suspicious of our leaders for liberty is in the most danger when the people are the least suspicious. The Lord, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, told us: "We have learned through sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion" (Doctrine and Covenants 121:39). George Washington is a very good example of a man who received power and authority and used them both wisely. I am impressed with the way General Washington lead the military in battle for years to obtain liberty to the people and then returned the power and authority to Congress when the war was over. George Washington was so loved and trusted by the people that many would not have accepted the new Constitution without his being in support of it. While he was President, he was very concerned that he made the right decisions in order to set the correct precedents for those who would follow him. He very easily could have become King of America, but he knew there was a better system of government. I believe that George Washington was one of the greatest of all our Founders. We live in troubled times when our President, Congress, and Courts are abusing the powers granted unto them. We must be vigilant if we are to retain our liberty. The Constitution itself tells us how to bring an abusive government under control and that is through the amendment process. We need to make sure that our representatives know that they have no power or authority unless we grant it unto them! To teach the difference between tyranny and liberty to your children, do some role playing. Let Dad act like a tyrant giving orders to everyone. Then let Dad and Mom gather the children around them to hold a family counsel about a problem the family is experiencing. The difference between the two approaches should be obvious to even the youngest of children.

Agency

I want to wish everyone a very Happy and Prosperous New Year. I hope that we all have a great year! On this Freedom Friday I want to discuss the foundation of freedom and liberty. That foundation is moral agency - the freedom to choose. We had agency when we lived as spirits in heaven before we came to this earth. While we lived with our Father in Heaven, He presented His plan for our happiness. He explained that He had prepared a new home for us where we would receive physical bodies and learn many things that we couldn't learn in heaven. He told us that we would have the ability to choose how we wanted to live our lives on earth. He said that we would one day return to live with Him if we made good choices. After Father in Heavenly presented His plan, another plan was presented to us by Lucifer. Lucifer's plan would insure that we all returned to heaven. To do this, our agency would be taken from us - and we would be forced to be good. There was a war in heaven (Revelation 12:7) because those who chose to follow Lucifer's plan wanted to force everyone else to choose it also. Those who wanted to keep their agency - the freedom to choose - won the war in heaven and were allowed to come to earth, receive bodies, and learn new things. Those who wanted to use force were cast out of heaven without bodies. Among those who came to earth are some people who think they are so intelligent that they want to tell others how to live their lives. These people are sometimes called social engineers. They like to use the force of the government to change mankind and to cause them to fit a master plan. These plans are very much like the plan we rejected in heaven. Many different programs are used to change mankind through the force of the government. Progressives are currently trying to gain control of the citizens in this nation by forcing some of these programs on our nation under the guise of health care reform, climate change, cap and trade, etc. Previous programs in other countries fell under the titles of Nazism, fascism, socialism, and communism. They were all administered under the control of a dictator such as Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Pol Pot, etc. We fought a war in heaven over agency. Heavenly Father considered agency to be so important that He allowed one-third of the hosts of heaven - His children - to rebel and to choose to live another way. Our nation was founded on liberty - the freedom to use our God-given agency to make choices. Our Founders fought a war that we might have liberty. Now we are in a war to see if we can retain our liberty. The words agency, freedom, and liberty all describe the Right to Choose. Let's keep this Right and fight against any body and every body that wants to take away our agency!

Generations of Freedom

Today is Freedom Friday. Are you wearing blue today to show support for our troops? I hope so! Yesterday marked 236 years since the Boston Tea Party on December 16, 1773, when a group of patriots with independent spirits threw the tea from England into the harbor.

This independence of spirit lives on in Americans and made the United States of America a country that is unique and strong and that draws like-thinking people from throughout the world to her shores. Today the progressive movement would like to erase the current Tea Party people from the pages of history by simply ignoring the movement and not reporting it in the media.

Ronald Reagan once said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States when men were free."

It is important that older people teach younger generations the principles upon which freedom is built and maintained. The United States became a strong country and remained one for over 200 years because it operated on the rule of law. The supreme law of this land is contained in the Constitution, and it is adherence to that Constitution which will keep us free.

Progressives want us to believe that the Constitution is outdated and no longer applicable in our enlightened time. They want us to give up our rule of law and adopt the rule of man. Progressive doctrine has slowly but surely been drawing us away from freedom and towards tyranny, away from Republican democracy towards socialism.

I learned recently one way that communists and socialists gain control over their people. They do away with the older generations [death panels?]. They get rid of those people who know how things used to be, and they indoctrinate the younger people to believe the new ideas.

This is the main reason why every American needs to study the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Federalist Papers, and other historically correct documents. We must all know how things should be done in our nation. This is one way that we can hold on to our freedom, protect it, and hand it down to our posterity.

"In the end, the American Founding was a test to see whether free men could govern themselves. But it is not a test that, once taken and passed, is over and done with. America remains a proposition … meaning that the validity of its claims is to be tested again and again and again" (Matthew Spalding in We Still Hold These Truths, pp 26-27).

Our Founders dedicated their lives, their liberties, and their sacred honor that we might have independence. Can we afford to do any less in order to keep it and pass it on to our posterity?

Rights and Responsibilities

"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" (Declaration of Independence). The Revolutionary War was fought to obtain God-given Rights for every individual. The United States Constitution was written and ratified to protect those basic Rights. The Bill of Rights was written and ratified to emphasize and to protect other freedoms that our forefathers and foremothers considered to be important. Other amendments to the Constitution provide and protect even more privileges. The principle that many people do not understand is that where much is given, much is required. Because we have these basic and other wonderful Rights, we also have Responsibilities to understand, utilize, and protect those Rights. Here are a few examples. 1. "Right to Life" gives us the Right to live as well as the Right to protect our lives and the Responsibility to protect the lives of other people. The Right to Life does not mean we have the privilege of having a healthy or even a happy life. It simply means that we have the Right to live. If we want to be healthy or happy, then we have the Responsibility to develop those habits and do those things that lead to health and happiness. 2. "Right to Liberty" gives us the Right to live freely, to come and go as we desire. No one has the authority to lock us up or to confine us in any way. The Responsibility that goes with this Right is the duty to insure that others enjoy this same freedom and the obligation to obey the laws of the city, state and nation. Those people who choose to disobey law also choose to lose freedoms. 3. "Right to the Pursuit of Happiness" is generally considered the Right to own property because owning property is a means of improving one's station in life - or to pursue happiness. This Right does not mean that we have the right to be happy; it simply gives us the privilege of pursuing happiness. We have the Right to own property but NOT the right to expect other people to buy the property for us. This Right is being threatened with words like "social justice" and "wealth distribution." 4. "Right to Worship" means that we can choose who, what and how we worship. It also means that we must allow other people the same privilege. This Right is slowing being destroyed. This destruction began long ago when politicians began saying that there was a "wall" between the government and religion. There is no wall and never was. Other indications that this Right is being destroyed is the law that prayer cannot be included in any school activity and the way that the "religious right" is condemned for standing on principle. 5. "Right to Free Speech" gives us the Right to say what we want to say, but it also gives us the Responsibility to check ourselves in what we say. This Right is being threatened under the new communication policy that is being discussed. The Fairness Doctrine would control talk radio and limit what could be said on television, thus giving the government room to give us whatever propaganda they choose. 6. "Right to Free Press" gives us the Right to receive the news without propaganda from the government. It gives us the responsibility to not print libelous news. This Right is being threatened under the plans for "responsible journalism". There is even a liberal organization called "Free Press" that is trying to destroy this Right. There is talk now of setting up a $50 billion "trust" in order to keep the mainstream newspapers in business, thus bringing the newspapers under the government umbrella. The free use of the Internet is being threatened by those who want to control Americans, including social networks like Face book. 7. "Right to Own and Bear Arms" gives us the Right to own guns. The Right of the individual to own guns was recently ruled constitutional by the Supreme Court. This Right brings the obligation to be a responsible gun owner. We have the Responsibility to protect the lives and rights of others. 8. "Right to Vote" brings the Responsibility to study the matters thoroughly to learn the pros and cons of each issue. This Right brings the obligation and duty to go to the polls to make one's position known. It also brings the duty to accept the decision of the majority of voters. The opportunity to live in the United States of America under the protection of the Constitution brings the Responsibility, the obligation, and the duty to study the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and other important papers. It also brings the Responsibility to defend and support the Constitution. We cannot be ignorant and remain free! Americans must wake up and take action because our Rights are slowly but surely being stripped away. The speed with which this process is taking place has been increased under the Obama Administration One of the best things that you can do is obtain copies of the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. A free copy of each of these two documents can be obtained from http:www.askheritage.org/premium.aspx. The signers of the Declaration of Independence pledged their Lives, their Fortunes, and their sacred Honor to bring freedom to Americans. Can we give any less if we want to pass this same freedom to our posterity? For more information on this subject: http://www.patriotpost.us/Alexander/2009/10/22/the-rights-and-obligations-of… and http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/11/is_barack_obama_atiamerican.html

Picture of Freedom

What does liberty mean to you? Is there a picture in your mind that shows what freedom means to you? Let me suggest a picture for you. Last night I read a short article attributed to a man who does not live in America and is not a citizen of the United States. His name is Cornel Nistorescu. He is the managing director of the daily newspaper, Evenimentul Zilei - News of the Day - in Romania. He published his editorial on September 24, 2001, which was two days after a big program in New York City given to benefit the victims of 9-11. Please go to http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/nistorescu.asp to read the article. Mr. Nistorescu started his article with the question, "Why are Americans so united?" He recognized that we do not look the same, we do not speak the same language, we do not have the same religious beliefs or the same cultural backgrounds, and he could not understand the unity he witnessed in our nation. He saw the unity as we rushed to the rescue, donated blood, did service, flew our flags, etc, but he didn't know the reason for it. Then he had the opportunity to view the charity telethon that was put on by many stars and super stars to benefit the victims. After watching the show three different times, he came to the conclusion that "only freedom can work such miracles." So, please take a mental picture of what you saw and heard on 9-11 and the days that followed, label that picture "Liberty and Freedom," and keep it bright in your heart. Don't let anyone tell you that freedom is anything less than what you saw when our nation came together against a common enemy. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Liberty and Tyranny

Abraham Lincoln is quoted as making the following statement in 1864: "We all declare for liberty; but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing. With some the word liberty may mean for each man to do as he pleases with himself, and the product of his labor; while with others the same word may mean for some men to do as they please with other men, and the product of other men's labor. Here are two, not only different, but incompatible things, called by the same name - liberty. And it follows that each of the things is, by the respective parties, called by two different and incompatible names - liberty and tyranny" (Mark R. Levin, Liberty and Tyranny A Conservative Manifesto (back cover). Liberty and Tyranny are two great forces in the world that seem to be everywhere. The wars currently going on in Iraq and Afghanistan are being fought to bring liberty where tyranny once reigned freely. The Korean War was fought to keep South Korea free of the tyranny of North Korea. World War II was fought to stop the tyranny of Germany, Italy, and Japan from being forced upon the rest of the world. In The Revolutionary War the American colonists fought a war against their mother country for liberty. Those familiar words in the Declaration of Independence state: "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…." The United States Constitution was written to put in place the laws that would maintain those unalienable Rights, including Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. Right now in our country the Constitution is under attack. President Barack Obama has outright stated that the Constitution doesn't do what we want it to do. In particular, he thinks that the Constitution should tell us what the government can do for us rather than just what the government can't do to us (see the Bill of Rights). I'll admit that I've been looking at the big picture, thinking of freedom for our whole country. What are we supposed to do when we live in a country that guarantees liberty, but in our own home and/or community there is tyranny? How do we recognize tyranny in our personal lives? What do we do about it when we see it? What are the characteristics we should be aware of? How do we teach and train our children in liberty rather than tyranny? Today I've been forced to look at freedom from tyranny on a more personal level. I've spent the bigger part of the past two days reading a book called Escape by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer. This book is the story of Carolyn Jessop, and her account is said to be "absolutely factual" (Jon Krakauer on back cover). In her book Carolyn tells the story of how she was born into a family that practiced polygamy for six generations. She accepted polygamy as the way life should be. When she was eighteen years old, she became the fourth wife of a fifty-year-old man. She had eight children in the fifteen years. Carolyn describes the tyranny that went on in her childhood home, schools, and later in her married life. She suffered physical abuse from her mother. She saw physical abuse on her bus when students assaulted other students and in her classroom when her principal "disciplined" students. She witnessed and suffered emotional and physical in her husband's home: husband upon wife, parent upon child, wife upon wife, child upon child. When she realized that life was becoming even more difficult, she began to plot her escape. After several years of planning, she was able to escape and take all eight of her children with her. Even though she was in a new community and receiving help, the results of all the abuse and tension continued to plague her. Little by little she was able to throw off the tyranny and become truly free. As I read this book, I begin to recognize the signs of other tyrannies that are familiar to us, like that of the Taliban, Hitler, Saddam Hussein, etc.: . The power was concentrated in one person who was the supreme head. In the family, father had absolute power. In the cult (the author's word) power was concentrated in the "prophet." In either case, there was to be no questioning of authority. The decision made by the person in control was permanent. . The right words were used, but the meaning was changed to mean whatever the supreme head wanted. . Laws were used to keep the masses under control, but the leaders had no laws. . Schools were for indoctrination but were eventually closed. Education was determined to be bad. They didn't want anyone learning to think for themselves or to be influenced by anyone outside their group. . Outside contact was eliminated. Television, radio, Internet, and newspapers were considered to be evil. Any information, such as the weather report, would be given by those in authority. . Women and children were powerless. They were under the direct control of the father in the home and had to endure whatever he chose to inflict. For rebellious wives or children, husbands and fathers could go to the "prophet" for more support. . Members of the family were encouraged to spy on each other and make reports to the father. . Affection was non-existent, whether between spouses or between parent and child. Emotional support was missing. . Personal control was taken away, such as type of clothing to be worn, hair styles, careers, etc. Towards the end of the book, even sex between husband and wife was being dictated. Tyranny has been defined as cruel or unjust use of power. The following quote is attributed to William Pitt, "Where laws end, tyranny begins." Edmund Burke is quoted as saying, "Bad laws are the worst sort of tyranny." Synonyms for tyranny are oppression, harshness, despotism. On the other hand, liberty has been defined as freedom; the condition of being free from captivity, imprisonment, or slavery; independence; the right or power to do as one pleases; power or opportunity to do something. (World Book Encyclopedia) God gave us agency, the freedom to choose, and the U.S. Constitution guarantees the liberty to use that agency. Liberty always involves freedom to grow, to develop, to do as we choose; tyranny always involves oppression and force of some kind. Parents have the responsibility to teach and to train children in love and kindness, but they have no right to use harshness or unkindness in dealing with their children.