240 Year Ago, our Founders Declared that Freedom Is Better!
Do you recall the last time you read the Declaration of Independence? If it's been a while, then I invite you to join me on a little journey on this 4th of July.
My family loves watching epic movies. Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia, Marvel/Avengers, the list goes on. These are the top movie and book brands of all time.* (*FYI: For books, the Bible is #1 all time by a huge margin.) Why do these stories have such broad and enduring appeal?
Well, they take us on a journey. One where the fate of many is in peril, a reluctant hero becomes aware of the desperate need, and faces a decision: who will stand up and fight?
Risk. What's the fun in watching a rigged game, where the players are paid to ensure a certain outcome? None! The characters in the epic's did not know the outcome. What they did know, with all their strength of conviction, is what was right and necessary. And what would pursuing the right cost them? Some their lives, some their fortunes, and all of them the pain and toil of pursuing what is noble and just no matter the odds or who comes with you.
America's founders had a lot to loose. These men were established and prosperous, with land and business and family. To Declare Independence from the Crown of England was to put a price on one's head, a price paid by one of the perennial Kingdoms of the day with collective might greater than our own.
Why would the Founders risk so much against a more powerful opponent?
Because the cause of Freedom is Worthy!
The Founders were raised in Western culture and its Judaeo/Christian underpinning, and as such, their American Revolution didn't depose one King/Despot/Ruling Oligarchy and put in its place another. That kind of revolution happens rather frequently. Bloody and wasteful, dictator-for-dictator revolutions don't advance Freedom, nor her children of healthy culture, free-enterprise and innovation.
The Founders were men, with the frailties and failing that are common to men. The most glaring of these was the surge of slavery of black Africans. What the Founders did put in place, that would ultimately put an end to the stench of slavery, was a framework in our Constitution whereby rights would, after the bloodiest of our wars, and 350,000 white and 40,000 black Union Soldiers dead, be fully vested in the former slaves as free and equal people. The Founders would be pleased that the Nation they started has achieved so much for the cause of Liberty and Justice for All!
So, today, on the 240th Anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, engage full-on in the Journey of American Freedom, shall we? Join with me in our National Celebration of Independence by adding these items to your day:
- Print Copies of The Declaration of Independence and sharing one with all who gather at the party/cookout you will be at today. (Hi Res Image of the handwritten here. Text for printing and reading here.)
- Read the first two paragraphs aloud to your crew before your meal.
- During your hangout time today, talk over the list of the grievances that the Colonists had against the King from the printed transcript. What do these have in common/contrast with issues in our day?
- With your whole crew, Recite as a Prayer the Last Sentence of our Declaration before you shoot off your fireworks:
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor."
July 4, 1776
240 Years ago today
Our Founders Declared That
Freedom is Better!