Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness
America’s birthday is cause for gratitude and celebration. 244 years ago on July 4th, our founding fathers made a bold move to secure life and freedom for our young nation. They ratified the Declaration of Independence breaking the 13 colonies away from Great Britain. They set out to establish a new country based on a radical idea—we are created equal and from our Creator, not government, we receive our rights.
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”….We hold these truth 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…“
This historic proclamation is the basis for American exceptionalism. #OurAmerica explains American exceptionalism by stating the United States of America is unique among the nations of the world in that it was founded, not on privilege of birth and power but on the principles of individual liberty, private property rights, and equal justice for all. Since it is unique the United States has a special role in the world and in history.
Centuries of war, cruelty, dictatorships, and chaos forced people to leave their homes and make the perilous journey sailing across the ocean to America in hopes for a better future. Two and a half centuries later, we are still a beacon of hope to the world with millions seeking refuge within America’s boarders.
The bedrock of America was based on the idea that these men and women placed their Creator as an unassailable foundation of our equality. It would be wrong to let some rewrite history and assign a lesser noble founding to this nation.
The use of systemic racism to describe our great history is a slur against our nation. It is nothing more than an attempt to implement a new and less noble political system. One that is sure to fail since it is based on deceit.
We would not have fared so well as a nation if we did not have created equal and unalienable rights enshrined in our founding documents. Our system has done more for freedom and prosperity than any other in history. It would be a betrayal and tragedy not to defend it.
America’s wealth is not merely financial or jobs and tax cuts as our politicians would have us believe. Rather, America’s wealth is found in the truth that we are equals. We have the power and ability as free people to protect life, to live that life in liberty, and to have the opportunity to pursue lasting happiness. We were also wise enough to know when to fight the lies and evil that threaten our way of life.
These truths are our national treasure that has thus far withstood the test of time. Yet, each generation must learn this if it is to continue.
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“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction, we did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
-President Ronald Reagan
Life
Dehumanization undermines our culture. It shatters our foundational principles in exchange for power, convenience, and greed. It set us back to what our founding fathers had fled which was real power in the hands of the few elite.
Today, many Americans are considered less human because of disability, age, gender, or simply being unborn. The left and left-leaning institutions like the Supreme Court place labels of useful or not useful, too burdensome, and other euphemisms to hide the true victim’s plight. This is devaluing to some in favor of others which does not fall in line with our foundational principles of being equal. The inconvenience of pregnancy, the hassle of caring for the elderly, the personal strain and financial cost of long term care is too much to tolerate. This new standard does not only create inequality but also disregards the sanctity of life. There is now a new false principle: the inconvenienced victim.
Taking innocent, voiceless life strikes at the root of our country’s foundation and disrupts harmony in every human relationship. Of course bad policy leads to fatherless homes which incites crime and violence resulting in poverty and the downfall of our cities. But nothing has the power to tear this country apart as taking human life.
Regaining America means regaining respect for life. All life matters from conception to death. We need to be relentless in this pursuit. The cause of life is the only cause that gives meaning to any other social need. Respect for all human life mollifies violence and mistreatment of others, it is not just a charity to donate to; it is the life support for our country.
Liberty
The greatest threat to liberty is fear and deceit.
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“Neither a man nor a crowd nor a nation can be trusted to act humanely or think sanely under the influence of great fear.”
-Bertrand Russell
An opinion columnist for The Hill states, the United States is now in the grip of such a fear. It is prostrating before authoritarians in government who have waited for such a moment and now relish in ordering us indoors.
The first amendment rights protect our religious liberty, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly. When big tech conspires with like-minded groups, authoritarian bureaucrats, corporations, and even foreign advisories to cancel or suppress opposing viewpoints through fear and misinformation then our liberty is cancelled. Free exchange or ideas and free elections are a part of liberty. Coercion is the opposite of this. Us patriots must cancel the cancel culture .
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“The entire root of liberty is constituted in reason.”
-St. Thomas Aquinas
The ability to grasp truth gives a person his dignity and requisite freedom as a spiritual creature. It is only through discourse, gathering of facts, and the absence of coercion are we able to build and protect a truly free society.
If truth is suppressed and punished by limiting the free exchange of ideas then liberty suffocates from the weight of fear and lies.
Pursuit of Happiness
Many of us are pro-life because our parents chose life. It is, after all the required first step! It is why I am pro-life. I am grateful for the gift of life and like so many other pro-life individuals, I’m concerned for others with so many threats abound.
The pursuit of a happy life requires sacrifice. The image of my mother’s last 12 great grandchildren in the span of 12 months exemplifies deep love, joy, and a rewarding life. Yet, the outcome is not by luck or happenstance especially given our confusing world of competing values and the temptations of materialism and selfishness. It is a choice. There are a myriad of ways to go about it. Choosing faith in a Creator, having a family out of love for others, and a love of country while having the ability to defend these great gifts is what makes this 4th of July truly an American event.
Dehumanizing a class of people and the inability to express truth if it offends another’s feelings makes choosing an unselfish way to happiness impossible.
The pro-life movement can save America. It has the innate quality to recognize we are created equal with unalienable rights. We need more adherents to the movement until all Americans are pro-life!
Let us all make a firm commitment to be pro-life patriots this Independence Day.
Life for all with the liberty to express this truth, free from fear so that the pursuit of happiness is possible and free from the lies of wayward culture.