LIBERTY. It never ceases to amaze me how many of the Left can be so ignorant to the meaning of that word, while just as many are so blindly unaware of its importance. Some may realize they have Liberty, or at least should have it. But to liberals, Liberty is just another word to hijack. Liberty means whatever they want it to mean, especially when it helps to push their agenda. Its usage has been constantly abused, its meaning twisted, and eventually contorted into something unrecognizable. This once divinely-considered concept of freedom has become a mutant – a product of higher thinking, where it can be used to advance left-wing ideology under the guise of ideas like “tolerance,” “acceptance,” and “diversity.”
Conversely, I do not tolerate, and I do not accept such flagrant disregard for the Truth. I do not accept what the Left has done to diversify the meaning of one of our most sacred, God-given rights. And neither would have the Founders accepted such ridiculous notions. They had much more respect for the word. It was a divine idea to them – something they fought to protect, not casually dismiss.
In fact, the significance of this one inalienable Truth, Liberty, resonated deep within the breast of every early American patriot. With great pith, George Washington exemplified this in his First Inaugural Address:
The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty and the destiny of the republican model of government are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally, staked on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.
I believe this sentiment still resonates today – in fact, I know it does. I have seen it. However, as a result of the relentless, pounding assault on our Constitutional principles, the meaning of the word has been nearly lost. To our forefathers, the word Liberty possessed powerful connotations that needed to be clearly defined and protected. And so, I will do my best to illustrate more clearly those implications.
Let me start with the origin – the Truth of its nature:
It begins with God, the Creator.
As stated in the Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776,
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.
Just as Life and the pursuit of Happiness are God-given rights, so too is Liberty. And since it is NOT given by the government, government cannot remove, alter, or diminish it. The Declaration continues:
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed…
The role of government, as intended by our founding fathers, is solely to protect these rights. The United States is a true republic. Our government has no power not given by its people. It has no power to “create” rights for any person of any income class, race, sexual orientation, etc. Rights are NOT created by government. Rights were created by the Creator.
To understand that Liberty is God-given, and not given by a governing body, is paramount. Leftists who scream “right infringement” when homosexuals are not allowed to marry are of the mind that marriage is a right. This is incorrect. Marriage is a holy sacrament, a God-given gift traditionally between a man and a woman, legally recognized by the state. It is a privilege to be married, not a right. Since privileges are not addressed by our Constitution on the federal level, the matter is for the state to decide. States are not obstructing liberty if they decide not to recognize gay marriage. They are, in fact, exercising the legal power afforded to them by our Constitution. Marriage is not a right, and states possess the legal authority to decide what constitutes a marriage and what doesn’t.
Furthermore, as the Declaration states, all people on Earth are created equally, not just white Americans. We all have equal rights, and, in America, we recognize this and enforce the law to protect these God-given rights. These rights afford us the freedom to pursue Happiness, practice whatever religion we choose, and to live freely, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights of others. Government, as intended by our Founders, does not hold the power to “create” rights for any group of people, minority or otherwise; It only has the power to protect those rights already created for everyone.
The Heritage Foundation maintains this description of Liberty:
Liberty is the rightful exercise of freedom. It balances man’s inherent freedom to pursue happiness with the corresponding duty to respect the rights of others.
Our God-given right to Liberty is the most powerful concept our Constitution sets forth. It implies the notion of equal opportunity for all. It implies freedom in the most righteous sense.
Liberty is God-given, government protected. Now here are some examples of what it means to be free:
Liberty means having the right-to-life. Liberty does not mean one has the right to take that same right-to-life from others, born or unborn.
Liberty means having the freedom to choose how one practices his religion. Liberty does not mean one has the right to force his beliefs on others, or on the organizations of others, concerning how they have chosen to live their lives, or practice their religions, collectively or individually.
Liberty means having the freedom to pursue Happiness, in any way one chooses. Liberty does not mean that one is entitled to being happy.
Liberty means having the freedom to pursue economic worth (GET RICH). Liberty does not mean one is entitled to succeed in that endeavor. Nor is one entitled to the economic worth of others who have succeeded where he fails.
Liberty means having equal opportunity to seek gainful employment regardless of race or sex. Liberty does not mean that one is to be favored for employment over others based on his or her own race or sex.
Liberty means having the freedom to choose a partner for marriage. Liberty does not mean that religions can be forced to compromise their values, which may be traditionally opposed to same-sex marriage. Henceforth, they cannot be forced to recognize one’s same-sex relationship as a legitimate union. The federal government has no authority to intervene on this, nor is it required to recognize any same-sex marriage, for any reason. See 1st Amendment.
This country was founded on the idea that all men are equal because we were created equally. The purpose of government is to protect these God-given rights through the force of law. And that’s it. This government was not constructed to advance the agendas of any specific group that liberals have deemed “oppressed”, and it was not constructed to promote the saving of this planet. Although individual-driven conservation is a worthy cause, it is not within the power of government to instruct what we can and can’t do with our own land, as long as our actions are not infringing upon others.
Liberals will maintain that the role of government should be much, much more than simply the protectors of Liberty. They believe that government should be the creator of new liberties, ostensibly unforeseen by our founding fathers. In their minds, more government involvement in our lives means more individual liberty protected. When, in fact, the government has now grown so large and intrusive that it clearly infringes upon the individual rights of the same people the Left has professed it was designed to protect. This is precisely the tenet of Liberal/Socialist doctrine that is destroying this country, and our liberty to boot. As Thomas Paine opined in his pamphlet, Common Sense,
Society in every state is a blessing, but government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one…
Liberty was once defined for us by a few brilliant men. Their collective accomplishment is one this world has yet to repeat. We live by the saving grace of these men and their visions of a truly free America. It brings me great anguish to witness their legacy destroyed by a Left-wing establishment who, contrary to conventional wisdom, know exactly what they are doing. They plead for compromise, but their true motive is to demolish Liberty as we know it and replace it with government. There can be no compromise with that.
But, as always, there is hope. Liberty, as the Founders knew it, survives today. For more than 236 years, Liberty has survived. It is our beating heart. And it will be, as it was once for them, our salvation. No matter the state of despair we find ourselves in, we will always know what it means to be free. And that is worth fighting for.
