Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Give me liberty not rights above liberty

Is social acceptance so dear, or individual freedom so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of losing our families and our children? I would ask this question, paraphrased from Patrick Henry, today about the proliferation of individual "rights" at the expense of losing our basic identity, our Western civilization and our humanity. In the pursuit of individual rights, we have all but abandoned the fundamentals of moral agency that made us a free nation. As Patrick Henry said, "We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts."

Although that pursuit of rights above liberty, rights above freedom and rights above logic or reason, has lead us to the brink of disaster, there is some small measure of hope that right thinking citizens of many races and persuasions will awaken to the danger that raising rights above all other considerations will ultimately befall us all. The true danger comes in the form of court opinions that overthrow the will of the majority of our people to satisfy hurt feelings of the few. When social acceptance and political correctness become our highest national aspiration, the short path to moral and societal destruction cannot be far behind.

There is no middle ground in this battle, those favoring same sex marriage do not just demand social equality, they wish to determine the values of our entire culture and belief structure. Again quoting Patrick Henry, "In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope. If we wish to be free-- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending--if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained--we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all that is left us!"

We will not and cannot abandon this noble cause to the base and degrading lowest denominator of our society. Society as a whole, must know and recognize that there are those who believe in eternal principles and that there is no compromise with evil. Social acceptance is not truth. Individual rights do not and cannot be allowed to destroy our sacred liberty.

"They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed...? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us."

3 comments:

  1. James, it sounds like you actually have some passion behind all that law. I appreciate the sentiments.

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  2. I really enjoyed these last two posts of yours. They made me think of a quote from the movie Gettysburg (which quote accurately reflects history). One Southerner stated, "I'm fightin' for my rats [rights]." He didn't know what his rights were but he was fighting for them. We have a lot of people today who are also fighting for their rights, whether or not they really know what their rights are. In many cases, their so-called rights are illusory (such as same-sex "marriage").

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  3. When a right is created, like the so called right to abortion, other rights are trampled upon, such as the right to life of an unborn child.
    Same sex marriage is not a right, it is an illusion, a form of linguistic gymnastics.

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