July 4th, Independence Day..
Truly one of my favorite holidays, next to Christmas, I can’t think of two more important holidays. OK, Easter is important too, but as a Patriot, I hold a great deal of joy in celebrating the birth of the greatest country in the world.
Why is it so important to celebrate this day? I can sum that up in one word.. FREEDOM. Freedom from tyranny. Freedom to worship God how we choose, or not if that is our belief. Freedom from persecution if we believe differently from others. Freedom to speak and practice our beliefs even if others disagree. Freedom to get an education which many are deprived of in other countries because of their race, gender or financial status. Freedom to pursue happiness without the tyranny of telling us who to be, what to be or where to go. Freedom to bear arms so that we can protect ourselves from the evil that exists. Freedom to bear arms how we wish because as our forefathers stated, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED. I think they made that point pretty clear. They had the forethought to put these inalienable rights in writing so that if anyone in our government chose to infringe on our rights, we could defend them and ourselves.
We have the right to speak our minds which we have seen in epic proportions in the past several weeks. Recently we have seen Americans using their second amendment rights to protect themselves from those who wish to do harm and destroy property.
In August and November we will have the right to chose whom we wish to lead our government and as Americans it is vitally important we exercise those rights more than ever. We need to forget about parties and look hard at who is fighting for our rights and who is trying to take them away. Personally, I make my choices based on my moral and ethical beliefs because I believe that is what our forefathers had in mind when they wrote the laws of our great country.
So why is it so important to remember and celebrate the importance of this day? On Memorial Day we remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms, on Veterans Day we thank those who have served and on July 4th we remember and celebrate those who had the courage to risk everything and fight for our independence. No, we have not always been a perfect country. There have been evil doers in the past who have put some black eyes on our history. However, there have also been heroes who have corrected those mistakes and made things right, like President Lincoln and Martin Luther King Jr.
Instead of erasing our history as though it never happened, we should look at it as lessons learned, the same way each of us goes through life. For if we forget our mistakes, we are bound to repeat them.
I, for one, will celebrate this important joyous holiday thinking of Francis Scott Key. The brave lawyer who wrote the words to our National Anthem as we fought for our independence from tyranny. Too many brave men and women have died and sacrificed so much defending our Flag which represents every freedom we all enjoy. It is time our country pulls together, each and every one of us and pays respect to what our flag represents which is freedom.
Freedom to make millions playing a sport. Freedom to speak out against something we do or don’t believe in. Freedom to do whatever we wish so long as we don’t infringe on the rights of others.
So while you are at the beach, bbq’ing by the pool or are enjoying a day on the water somewhere, remember what you are celebrating, fly the most beautiful colors there are, Red, White and Blue and be proud of being an American. So many have and continue to defend this country while others are striving to enjoy our freedoms and call themselves Americans.
Lastly, Thank you Thomas Jefferson for writing the document that allows us this great day and all of our forefathers for signing it.
May God Bless the United States America!!