Independence Won, Can You Keep It?

By Reverend Paul N. Papas II

July 3, 2017

It is a short work week, or a long weekend, or the most festive American holiday with cookouts, parades, parties and fireworks more than other patriotic holidays such Memorial Day or Veterans Day. Most people forget that when the 56 members of the Continental Congress signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they were in fact signing their death warrants. You see Freedom is not free, it comes at a high cost.

Great Britain was the most powerful nation on earth, and at the same time, the thirteen American colonies were poor and disunited. The British Crown deemed the issuance of a declaration of independence as an act of treason, which meant that all signatories would be punished by death. This is very much like a David v Goliath story – and David won again.

“Those who won our independence believed that liberty was the secret of happiness, and courage was the secret of liberty.” ~Louis D. Brandeis

“The American Revolution was a beginning, not a consummation.” ~Woodrow Wilson

“In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved. ” ~Franklin D. Roosevelt

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it”. ~Thomas Paine

“Where liberty dwells, there is my country”. ~Benjamin Franklin

“We need an America with the wisdom of experience. But we must not let America grow old in spirit”. ~Hubert H. Humphrey

“Freedom is the oxygen of the soul”. ~Moshe Dayan

“Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men and so it must be daily earned and refreshed – else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots, it will wither and die”. ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

“May the sun in his course visit no land more free, more happy, more lovely, than this our own country!” ~Daniel Webster

“Freedom is never free”. ~Author unknown.  Have you ever wondered why you never received a bill for your Freedom? The reason is the price of Freedom has been paid on many battle fields here and abroad.

My patriotic heart beats red, white, and blue. ~Author unknown

What does Freedom look like?

To the oppressed it is the unshackling from the oppressor.

To the prisoner it is the ability to choose when he can get up, eat, sleep and decide where he can go.

To those suffering with mental illness it is a time when he or she will no longer be subject to the heaviness and dark shadows of the illness.

To the Borrower who is a slave to the lender it is have all his debts paid in full.

To the child it is a time when he’ll be free from his parents rules….until he discovers all the responsibilities of having and maintaining his own home.

Liberty is believed to be the root cause of freedom.

Bill of Rights guarantees our God given Unalienable Rights. The government did not give us these rights and they can not take them away.  The restrictions are upon the government instituted by We the People. I realize many in government today believe that We the People are servants of theirs when in fact the opposite is true.

Unfortunately many of the Freedoms we won and are guaranteed have been usurped by a judiciary who decided it should make laws instead of applying it to the set of facts. Then there are those who for some reason have decided they must destroy this great country of our, some are elected officials who have chosen to violate their oath of office.

It is time for the no longer silent majority to speak up and stand up at every opportunity to those who pervert the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof.

Freedom is not free and must be defended to truly enjoy it.

President Reagan’s Address to the Nation on Independence Day – 7/4/86

https://reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/speeches/1986/70486c.htm

http://thehayride.com/2014/07/independence-day-ronald-reagans-what-july-4th-means-to-me/

Freedom In The 50 States

https://www.freedominthe50states.org

From every mountain side

Let Freedom ring.

~Samuel F. Smith, “America”

Reverend Paul N. Papas II is a Pastoral Counselor with Narrow Path Ministries (MA + AZ ) and Founder of the Family Renewal Center (AZ) www.narrowpathministries.org and www.familyrenewalcenteraz.org