Holidays are meant as a time of celebration and reflection. Indeed, we should heartily celebrate the Fourth of July as the day when our founding fathers pledged their lives and their fortunes to the freedoms they believed were inherent in every man and ought to be left untouched by the government.
When these great men gained the liberty to form their own government, they were not concerned that government should protect the freedoms of individuals. However, they made it a priority to protect individual freedom from encroachment by government. That is what the checks and balance system and the Bill of Rights was all about.
Interestingly enough, many freedoms long cherished by Americans and enshrined in the Bill of Rights have been eroded since that time. The right to bear arms has been restricted by government fiat in direct conflict with the second amendment. The right of free association has been curtailed by judicially active judges who have unwisely enforced school busing and an end to all male schools. Our rights to property have been hammered by excessive taxation and redistribution programs. Our freedom of speech has been limited by laws prohibiting prayer in schools. States rights, spelled out in the 10th amendment of the Bill of Rights have been throttled by an ever expanding federal giant. The right to live free from harassment has been eroded by trial lawyers eager for a fast dollar. Nearly every provision of the Bill of Rights has been accosted by the federal government.
We should celebrate Independence Day with vigor. Yet we should also keep in mind that the restrictive government from which we were liberated is mirrored in the new government of our own age. The difference between us and our rebellious forebears is that we have a peaceful means to curtail the abuses of this government. Certainly, most of the taxes imposed upon us are imposed by our own representatives (thus we cannot heed the revolutionary cry of "No taxation without representation.") Thus, our answer to this new behemoth, this new Leviathan, is not armed resistance. It is, rather, a battle for the hearts and minds of our countrymen and ultimately a war at the ballot box.
We must be sure during this campaign season - the '98 congressional elections to support the right people for public office. We must convince our friends, family and neighbors to do the same. Like the founding fathers who mustered the courage to sign the declaration of independence, knowing full well the consequence of their signature could be a hangman's noose, we must have the courage to put our own name to the cause of freedom.
