July Fourth may be one of the most laid back of the Mississippi holidays. After all, with the steaming heat, who can do much but cook up some ribs and hang by the pool?
Of course, today we have air conditioning - thank the good Lord - but old ways die hard. This summer holiday remains one where relaxation reigns supreme.
As we enjoy our material and spiritual abundance, we need to remember that the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were risking their lives.
Our country is still on the forefront of fighting for liberty over tyranny. Millions of people are now free because of our willingness to sacrifice American lives for freedom.
Never has there been a nation that so dominated the world militarily. The United States military budget is bigger than all other nations combined. Yet we have used that power not to enrich ourselves, but rather to spill our blood for other people’s freedom. That is a noble country indeed.
The United States is the beacon of freedom in a world of tyranny and oppression. It is no small task.
All citizens of today need to understand the philosophy of our Founding Fathers so we can do our part to keep their brilliant creation alive and well.
Foremost, we need to remember that the men who signed the Declaration of Independence were signing, in all likelihood, their death warrants. Few expected our ragtag colony to prevail over the greatest power in the world. The punishment for treason was to be shot or hanged. These were successful men with families in the prime of life. This country was founded on the principle of personal sacrifice for a greater good, not just as a concept, but as something only fulfilled with one’s own flesh and blood.
Our Founding Fathers were nervous about centralized federal power, believing that local government would always be superior in the long run.
No other large nation has a decentralized government like the United States. Not only does this keep the government closer to the people, it provides a check on unlimited federal power, which can be dangerous to those principles on which our country is based: liberty, freedom, individual rights, God and democracy.
