Independence Day 1776
By Robert Lowry | RedCounty.com | Hollywood, FL
This past weekend we commemorated our independence from tyranny, but will it be the last time we celebrate “the land of the free?”
As we attended backyard bashes, ate BBQ cuisine, and watched in awe the many firework displays, we remembered the 56 ordinary men who came together to do a most extraordinary thing. During that hot summer in Philadelphia in 1776, they not only committed treason to the British crown, but shattered the ideology of every other monarchy and governmental entity throughout civilization.
For the first time in human history – men claimed their freedom from the shackles of government. They took hold of the liberty granted by virtue of Natural Law, God given rights, and America’s exceptionalism was born.
We, as individuals, possess what Jefferson termed “inalienable rights”. He boldly proclaimed that our government derives its powers from the consent of those governed, and that the only purpose of government is to secure these fundamental rights. And for the first time in history, Our Declaration of Independence granted the governed the right to alter and abolish the government that fails to protect these rights!
Until this Jeffersonian moment, most cultures had viewed laws through the lens of the ruled – Laws, to them, were provided and written by the State – By the right of the monarchy or elite class that ruled them.
By contrast, we claim our rights as a natural extension of our individuality- intrinsically tied to the fiber of our being and placed in our souls by our Creator – not defined by a government. Today we find these truths questioned again. We have acted like spoiled children, squandering the most precious gift any civilization can receive – our freedom.
The progressive movement has been chipping away at our liberty for almost 100 years. Entitlement after entitlement has undermined the principles of self-actualization and responsibility, replacing them with collectivism and false fairness. Our public schools have shifted responsibility for the upbringing and discipline of our children away from the parent onto the teacher. Social security has shifted responsibility of retirement planning away from the individual onto the government. Obamacare is nothing more than the redistribution of personal health choices, sacrificing one’s individual liberty to decide what physician or procedure is best for your family.
Cradle to grave entitlements will not only bankrupt our treasury, but our moral fortitude as well. Cap and Trade will be this government’s final campaign for gaining complete control of every aspect of our lives; it will dominate the strongest, most resilient economy the world has known, the very life blood of our freedom and security, and strangle it.
Today, the government is picking favorites by deeming those “in need” or “less fortunate” to be entitled to the property of those who have labored to produce. Tragically, those entitlements actually discourage people from bettering their own situation, creating a nanny state, dependent relationship with government rather than one of personal independence. It seems the rights of those “entitled” outweigh the rights of the providers. So much for Natural Law and equal opportunity.
I believe that the final effort of the Progressive push is the secularization of America. They are attempting to remove God from our currency, schools, public buildings and American Life. Their belief is that by doing so Americans will replace God with government and will worship at the altar of State.
Now, like those 56 men of 234 years ago, we must take a stand. We must fight for our freedom, and earn it again. We must rediscover our declaration of independence and apply the courage of our founders to our daily lives by demanding personal responsibility.
If we forget our divine rights, as Jefferson so proudly stated, we lose. America will no longer be the land of the free, but the land of the enslaved – just like every other civilization before. The noble experiment, this torch of liberty, will be extinguished forever.
Robert Lowry
Republican Candidate
U.S. House of Representatives, CD20-FL
