I ask this question as a person who once saw their country as the beacon of light on the hill; the lighthouse so to speak. But, the fear, the hatred, and the corruption run so deep and have divided us so greatly, my hope for its saving is waning. Maybe I should not be writing this today as I am still recovering from a happening yesterday. Sadly, I am not so sure what is more damaged my body or my faith in my fellow human beings, that I have loved so dearly all my life. I will not say what happened, just that with each passerby that did nothing and there were probably well over a hundred, I became more and more disappointed in humanity. I found the strength, however, to motivate to a location that led me to complete strangers, more than willing to assist and verify all was okay. By the grace of God, and divine protection, I am okay and any other damage could have been and should have been worse.
How does the happenings of yesterday lead me to talk about freedom? Well, the more I think about why people would not stop to help, the more I think about how we got to a society like this in the first place. Everybody afraid for themselves, everybody afraid of lawsuits, afraid of government or business repercussions, or something else. Who is to blame for that? The people whose agenda it is to divide us? The corrupt? The lawyers? The courts? The laws? The lack of education? Ourselves? Maybe all of the above. How do we fix it all though? And can we fix it? We say we are good, loving, compassionate people for the most part, then why do we not show that side of ourselves more often?
It is my opinion that maybe it all stems from us not being as free as we think we are. Are we free when a company denies us credit when our credit score is 810 and the factors hurting us are our revolving credit being too high at 6% of total available and we do not have any form of loan installment payments due? Are we free when we are forced into zones to be able to speak our peace and then punished in those zones when we do? Are we free when a business can decide who and how many are able to see or read what we say? Are we free when we own a piece of property that we pay taxes on which can be taken away by eminent domain, can have restrictions put on it as to use, or requirement of thousands of dollars in permits to do what it is that we want to? Are we free when we are a country that joins together to donate goods to another country that has had a disaster and those goods never leave our ports to their destination? I can continue, I think you get the point though.
I am more fortunate than most to have been born into the most free nation on the planet. We were that or are that, only because some pledged to each other their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors. They worked tirelessly, and divinely guided, to devise a system by the people and for the people. Yet what have we done? We did not pay attention, we became complacent, we removed the divine from it all, including the education, and we stopped teaching and reading the documents set for us to live by. When we do not know what it is those documents say, it is easier for us to be manipulated. Have there been mistakes and injustices made? Oh heck yes. And with each one we moved or move further away from the divine and endowed rights we were given and further into allowing man to say what rights who has and what rights who hasn’t.
Take for example, many do not know there are three branches of government. They also do not know the powers given to each branch, let alone why some branches were supposed to have vastly more power than the others. Because they do not know any of this, they cannot recognize when the power structure shifts in a way that hurts us all. I will leave you with an example of the shifting powers that divide us.
Lady Justice wears a blindfold, and carries scales and a sword for a reason. She is supposed to be blind to the people’s race, creed, religion, wealth, etc. that are before her, her scales are supposed to be balanced with honesty and integrity, and her punishment is supposed to be cutting and swift. So I ask you, is she blind when people commit the exact same act, yet receive different punishments? Are her scales balanced when judges, lawyers, and other government officials are allowed to choose what evidence is admissible and what evidence is not admissible. When we select facts are we presenting the whole truth with honesty and integrity? And lastly, how is the punishment swift and cutting when some are not punished at all?
It is my hope, in future days, to walk you on a slow path to knowledge of our founding documents, possibly through court cases that show how lady justice has changed, and into discussions on how to fix what is broken. Maybe again, by divine providence, we can find and fight our way to freedom; or maybe we will remain complacent, ugly, angry, and hateful. You decide for you, as for me, I will fight as hard as I can this feeling, that is trying to tear me from faith in all of you, and freedom.