Our nation just finished celebrating Independence Day. A day dedicated to showing the world what freedom is and how much of a blessing it is. A day which we can also thank the founding fathers for, but many seem to want to demonize them for what they gave us.
Far too many people who are running for the presidency of our nation want to call it a democracy but it’s not. There is a story of Benjamin Franklin exiting the Constitutional Convention and person yelling to him, “What have you given us?” and his response is, “A republic, if you can keep it.”
We have been given the blessing of a government as Lincoln said, “of the people, by the people and for the people.” We must not lose sight of that and let the government reign over us. We must continue to limit the government’s power not allow the government to limit us.
Remembering the words of Patrick Henry, “Give me liberty, or give me death.” We must remember that a government that can give you something has taken it from someone else or required someone else to give up something. Liberty is not freedom from obligation but being free from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority.
Take stock in what someone offers you when they stump for your vote. Are they offering you something for free or to pay back something you owe? If they are then they are not offering you freedom they are offering you more government at the expense of your time, talent and treasure.
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Kenneth Toole
Baxter
