Liberty is a costly commodity. It may be secured on the battlefield but it does not begin nor does it end there. It begins and ends in the minds and hearts of the people.
On September 17, 1787, Benjamin Franklin wanted to give a short speech to the Constitutional Convention prior to the signing of the final draft of the Constitution. Too weak to actually give the speech himself, he had fellow Pennsylvanian James Wilson deliver the speech. He said, in part:
Sir, I agree to this Constitution with all its faults, if they are such; because I think a general Government necessary for us, and there is no form of Government but what may be a blessing to the people if well administered, and believe farther that this is likely to be well administered for a course of years, and can only end in Despotism, as other forms have done before it, when the people shall become so corrupted as to need despotic Government, being incapable of any other.
What type of government are we left with when the elections are over? That depends on who we are as a people. Do we elect people who will control our lives because we are no longer capable of controlling ourselves?
Not only did Franklin have a large part to play in the framing of the Constitution, he also was one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence. Let us not forget this part of it:
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.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Do we still value life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? If so, we must be willing to fight for it. We cannot remain on the sidelines and watch the systematic overthrow of our Constitution and all the principles for which it stands.
Anyone political leader who contends that freedom and opportunity is dependent upon his or her governing control is a liar. In the words of John Locke:
“To properly understand political power and trace its origins, we must consider the state that all people are in naturally. That is a state of perfect freedom of acting and disposing of their own possessions and persons as they think fit within the bounds of the law of nature. People in this state do not have to ask permission to act or depend on the will of others to arrange matters on their behalf. The natural state is also one of equality in which all power and jurisdiction is reciprocal and no one has more than another. It is evident that all human beings – as creatures belonging to the same species and rank and born indiscriminately with all the same natural advantages and faculties – are equal amongst themselves. They have no relationship of subordination or subjection unless God (the lord and master of them all) had clearly set one person above another and conferred on him an undoubted right to dominion and sovereignty.” ( Two Treatises On Government: A Translation Into Modern English, ISR/Google Books, 2009, page 70)
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Corinthians 3:17)
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)
Embracing the truth is the beginning of freedom. Denying the truth is freedom’s first casualty. We are a nation under God empowered by God to govern ourselves under His purposes, power, and protection. There is no United States of America without Him.
