My thoughts on/about Freedom...

Sometimes I wonder just what the founding fathers of our country would think about how their vision of a free country has progressed since the founding of our country. Would they be proud of our progression of their concept, or would they wish they would have spent more time hammering out the Constitution to insure that certain liberties weren't perverted as they sometimes have been? I'll have to admit that I sometimes think that they must be rolling over in their graves...such as in regards to the removal of "The Ten Commandments" (TTC) from public places, and the prohibiting of our children expressing their spiritual beliefs to their friends at school in any sort of a formal way.

I believe that the core premise of founding our free country was to insure that it's people could believe and worship God, or their Creator, as they saw fit...each according to their own conscience, through the free exchange of ideas and beliefs.

Because our founding fathers were themselves not angels by any means (as has been revealed over and over again along the years), but had learned from their own shortcomings, they held to the premise that every human being should have the choice of how to morally live their lives. They seemed to mostly hold to the dictates of "The Ten Commandments" as a rule of thumb for morality, yet they clearly did not always measure up to the standard themselves. TTC was a standard to ASPIRE to, and each of our personal life journeys would show us the wisdom of holding to it, and the folly of going against it...learning from our mistakes, and becoming ultimately better for it.

A perfect example of this is the story of the Prodigal Son told in the Bible. The son insisted on receiving his inheritance and doing with it what he would (against the wise advice of his father), and yet eventually he came full circle and realized the error of his ways. He returned home with obedience and humility in his heart...choosing the right path, after all was said and done, because he WANTED to. And I believe that our predecessors took that leap of faith about the future citizens of our country...believing that, even if we screwed up, we would find our way back to what was right and decent. The thought being that, it does no good to force people to be moral and obedient to their Creator if their HEART isn't in it...as it is the condition of the mind and heart that is most important to our Deity. And those that choose NOT to turn from their sins do so of their own free will, and not because they weren't given the freedom to choose the path they took. After all, the whole basic premise of salvation is to willingly surrender your sinful nature and choose obedience to God...it must come from the heart, and not be forced upon anyone. That's very difficult to do if you don't live in a free environment.

Indeed, what good does it do to force someone to behave a certain way in society if they don't do it for the right reasons? As human psychology has shown us, to force a human being to do anything other than the dictates of their heart is to instill resentment and rebellion of the very concepts that are being enforced...and a longing for the freedom to choose to do the opposite of what is being enforced. And the bottom line of this whole train of thought is, that if any of us truly ONLY have to answer to our Creator for our actions and thoughts, we should be able to choose what those actions and thoughts will be...answering only to our God for our shortcomings, failures, and sins...and not to any MAN, such as a monarch or dictator...or even a particular religious sect. If free thought, the free exchange of ideas, and the freedom to seek "the truth" is stifled, then how are we to grow into the human beings that the Creator intended us to be?

I think that this whole concept of freedom totally escapes our fellow human beings in other parts of the world. And I believe that it is archaic to force human beings to live and think one particular way. Those that enforce such policies might have just as well crawled out from under a rock during the Stone Age, in my opinion. They are stunting the growth of their own people, and preventing them from becoming the wise and spiritual beings that the Creator intended. Those like the terrorists abroad, who think we Americans are evil and a blight on humanity, are only trying to CONTROL their own people for their own personal means of satisfaction...which IS EVIL. Those that have lived in that type of controlled environment, and then have tasted the sweet taste of FREEDOM, know that this is true. And for those who have not tasted freedom, we must continue to carry on "the good fight" to spread freedom across the globe. Hopefully, one day ALL will grow from the freedom of choice...which is one big step closer to peace.

Much love and respect,

~Lady*Liberty~

Please take a few moments and view this inspiring tribute to all the brave souls that have fought and died for our freedom...The Spirit of America

Related Links:

The US Constitution

Enchanted Learning

Early America

Wikipedia

The Ten Commandments

Wikipedia

Religious Tolerance

For Kids: Top Marks


911 Tribute Links ~ Let us NEVER forget...

Coping.org

Remember the Blood of Heroes

America Attacked 9/11

NOTE: Visit the "other" Lady Liberty site (not mine, or me), that has been around much longer on the web than I have. Although we are both from the mid-West, we don't know (or have ever met) each other. Still, I'm amazed that our views (on some topics) are so similar. There are great links on the site related to this post, and I will most likely refer to articles at this site in the future...especially in posts regarding government.

The related link for this post is:
"The Truth, So Help Me God"

And Lady Liberty's home page is:
Lady Liberty's Constitution Clearing House