There will be no white flag above our door. We’re in love and always will be.
On Saturday, Americans will observe Independence Day, an annual rite celebrating the ideals of liberty upon which our country was founded.
Two-hundred and thirty-nine years ago, our founders pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to create a new nation unlike anything that had preceded it. Their new nation was built on the belief that God endowed every person with rights that no government can deny whilst claiming to rule with any color of legitimacy.
Unlike the solemn occasion of Memorial Day, which commemorates loss, Independence Day is defined by the joy and optimism about America that motivated the Founding Fathers to take the risks they did in order to declare independence. This is why it is celebrated with so many cheerful customs — picnics, baseball games, back yard barbecues, parades, fireworks and patriotic displays of the American flag.
Even so, many of Americans’ freedoms are under threat today. According to the Fraser Institute, the United States ranks 12th among countries in terms of its economic freedom, a decrease from past years that’s due in part to a decline in property rights and a rise in the costs imposed by government on businesses.
Another First Amendment right under attack is the freedom of speech. According to Reporters Without Borders, the U.S. now ranks 49th in the world in terms of freedom afforded to the press, an alarming decline from 20th place in 2010. Among the countries whose journalists enjoy more freedom are Namibia, El Salvador and Burkina Faso.
Update:
We have many challenges now, and we will have many more in the future. We will have the time where we will be asked to ante up, to protect what the founders have given us in trust. Do not doubt that we will, for we are Americans. In liberating strife, we shall stand for America the Beautiful. May God shed his grace on us in our task.
HT: Infadelicious for Tribute To Founders Video