Independence Day

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

Two hundred forty-six years ago tomorrow, delegates from each of the thirteen colonies adopted the Declaration of Independence. The United States, however, didn’t really win its independence until the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783.

The United States Constitution wasn’t adopted until five years after that. Within a year of that, seventeen amendments to the Constitution were proposed. In 1791, the first ten amendments were ratified and became known as the Bill of Rights.

I’m not a historian, but from what I’ve been reading about this time in our country’s very early history, our founding fathers had a lot to squabble about. Overall, though, I think they were all looking out for the best interests of the people.

It had to be tough, though. They came up with some ideas which were radical for the time. I’m sure a lot of those guys were despised by many, but I think they had ideals that they wanted to see through to fruition. I think they wanted to create a country where everyone had unalienable rights, which included the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. I think they wanted to guarantee freedom for their citizens.

What happened? I don’t know. We are living in crazy times. People seem to have taken their right to freedom a bit far. From refusing to get vaccines to abortion to gun control to sex change operations for kids. I don’t think any of that is what our founding fathers had in mind.

I still think we need to fall back on God’s Ten Commandments and turn our problems, our disagreements, over to God. I’ll get back to writing about those commandments next Sunday. For now, though, appreciate the freedoms we do have in this country and stop pushing your agenda on others. Just be peaceful, bend a little, and don’t break.