Liberty: Don’t Take It for Granted
I usually devote Mondays to cleaning out my inbox and answering readers’ questions, but since today is the day America celebrates her independence, I thought I’d share the following letter that I received from a dear homeschooling friend yesterday urging us not to take our liberty for granted.
Her message is such an important one, and she articulates it so well, I thought it deserved a broader audience. I hope you’ll take it to heart:
Government is the servant and not the master of the people.”
This profound statement has been forgotten in the United States. Friends, take note this Independence Day that the rights and liberty for which men and women have sacrificed since Lexington & Concord are slipping away and within the next few months or years, federal tyranny may render our Bill of Rights completely meaningless.
I am pleading with every homeschooler to get involved in the political process while you still have the ability to do so. We need God-fearing people representing us in local, state, and federal positions — and only God-fearing people can put and keep them there. The very right for us to educate our own children as we see fit is on the line because of the incremental, slippery-slope erosion of seemingly unrelated Constitutional rights. This is not an esoteric, ivory-tower theory. This is happening NOW — while we are all preoccupied with training our own children.
This July 4th give thanks to God for the liberty we enjoy and for the price paid for it. Also, resolve to dedicate yourself to the preservation of that liberty for your children and grandchildren. In 1776, God gave us a great gift. Born of religious oppression and tyrannical control, our government was granted by God and suitable only for a people determined to rightly govern themselves. It is a selfish thing to now turn a blind eye to the deterioration of our liberties and allow this country to slip away.
If you think my friend is overstating the case, just review some of the recent court decisions and executive orders that have infringed upon civil liberties, ignored State rights, and completely trampled upon the Constitution.
If you’re looking for ways to stay informed or get involved, here are some of our favorites sources for staying abreast of the issues and vetting the candidates we support. Follow the links to check them out:
- Prager University – a fantastic free resource for learning about both American history and current events; we especially love PragerU’s informative and engaging 5-minute video series
- World Magazine – reports on national and international news from a Christian worldview
- World Watch News – a daily, 10-minute subscription news show, delivered from a Christian Worldview; my children watch this with me every morning as part of their homeschool education
- TeenPact – trains young people to understand and participate in the political process — we have sent all our teens to these 4-day state classes and highly recommend the program.
- American Family Association – seeks to “inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture”
- National Right to Life – works to pass pro-life legislation that protects mothers and their unborn children
- Home School Legal Defense Association – supports and defends the rights of parents to direct the education of their own children
None of those are affiliate links, by the way. We don’t get anything for sharing them with you, but do so only because we’ve found these organizations very helpful and think you will, too.
We hope you have a happy Independence Day. Let’s do our best to make sure America enjoys her hard-earned freedoms for generations to come! Let’s never forget our hard beginnings, for if we do — as Carl Sandburg observed — our great country will begin to crumble.
