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Brazil, Indiana ~ Wednesday, October 8, 2008
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Independence Day, Treason and Freedom
Posted Wednesday, July 2, 2008, at 7:11 AM<< Previous | Read comments | Respond | Email link | Next >>
As we prepare to celebrate Independence Day, let us contemplate our freedom, how we came by it, and what it means.
No person who has anything or anybody is really "free." There is a line in the lyrics of the song, "Me and Bobby McGee," that puts that into perspective. The song says that "freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose". As long as you have anything, you have an attachment and, therefore, are not totally free. What we enjoy is freedom from oppression, yet even that is not complete and total. By having any type of government or society, a person must give up some control over their own life and assets. To be totally free, you would have to live in a utopian society without any government. Needless to say, such societies do not last long in the real world given the nature of mankind's greed and the absence within those societies of one facet of government that ensures the survival of government, the ability and inclination of government to protect itself and its society from aggression and dissolution. For their pursuit of the freedom that we now enjoy in the United States, we call our Founding Fathers patriots. George Washington, John Adams, Patrick Henry, and Thomas Jefferson are revered in this country for what amounts to an act of treason for which, had they ever been captured by the British, they would have been hanged. I do not recall being taught that in school, but I hope that it is today. These men and others like them went to great personal risk to try to improve conditions for themselves and future generations. As veteran who served in the 1970s and 80s, I understand a little of the hardship faced by the soldiers of the Continental Army from living outdoors and moving around on foot. From my study of history, I understand a little of the problems an army in the field faced from lack of sanitation, medical treatment for wounds, lack of provisions, and lack of technology. I do not understand what courage it took for a man to leave his farm or shop and his family to take up arms against the nation of his birth, England, to follow the dreams of traitors (or, if you wish, patriots) and stand in battle formations across open ground facing what was one of the most powerful armies of its day. So, as I celebrate Independence Day this year, I will thank God for those treasonous men who signed the Declaration of Independence and led the Thirteen Colonies to war and those foolish out-classed men that stood with musket, cannon, sword, and the bayonet to win the freedom that I inherited by being born in the United States. As I do, I will also resolve to do what I can to insure that future generations continue to enjoy that freedom. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
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I am not so sure I thank them for the war but I do thank them for the MANY MANY freedoms I do enjoy! I thank all of the brave people who have enabled me to have these gifts!
I guess my previous post was inappropriate. If we can't voice ourselves, then what is the purpose of the comments section?
Sassypants is not sure she wants to thank them for the war, not realizing that war is what enables her to have the freedoms, and the gifts.
lol, sassy's comment had me slightly confused also. It was one thing to sign the Declaration of Independence, that would have got a few people hung, but would not have gained our independence. The Declaration had to be backed up by force of arms for the British to concede the point. That took a lot more people standing up and saying "this is what we want and we aim (no pun intended) to have it!"
Please give me one reason to thank any person for an actual war~! War is what happens when we fail to communicate and are forced into a conflict. I think to say Thank you Taliban for a conflict costing many people their lives... sounds a bit odd. I really can see no reason to thank ANYONE for a war.
I do however thank anyone that has brought me freedom. To say THANK YOU FOR BRINGING us to war seems rather dumb to me. To say thank you for freedom...I am much happier saying that.
You can say i am splitting hair if you wish. I just do not see thanking anyone for a battle that will cost lives.
No sassypants, You are no splitting hairs. You enjoy your freedom, but seem to fail to realize that you ONLY have that freedom because of war. So, thank Thomas Jefferson, Paul Revere, Ben Franklin, John Hancock, George Washington, Noah Webster, and many others, because WAR is what got us where we are. Let me guess, you are a liberal, and plan to vote for Obama. Another confused person. He loves free speech, but only when it agrees with him. Typical liberal mantra.
ConservativeDad
Glad there is only one way to think and it is yours! God Bless your conservative opinion!
Now, just whom started the war that we call the American Revolution? Was it England with its taxation policy, its quartering of troops in the homes of colonists, or the Boston Massacre? Was it Colonists with the Declaration of Independence, the Boston Tea Party, or the Battle of Concord when they "fired the shot heard round the world?" Being American, and therefore a bit prejudiced on this issue, I lay the blame for the war with the British. I thank the American colonists for winning it so we now enjoy the freedoms that we have.
After Viet Nam, we in the Marine Corps used a phrase that stated that "no one likes to fight, but someone has to know how." You could add to that "and have the courage to do so." The soldiers of the colonial army did not know how to fight what was the best and most powerful army in the world at the time, the British Army, in the beginning of the conflict. They learned and I thank those men, and women, in the rank and file who stood, fought, and sometimes died to make me free.