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Grateful Greetings July 4, 1988
Thoughts on Government and Freedom: GEORGE WASHINGTON - Government is not reason, it is not eloquence - it is force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN - Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety. THOMAS JEFFERSON - ... fellow citizens - a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the Sum of Good Government... JAMES MADISON - ...that alone is just government which impartially secures to every man whatever is his own. ABRAHAM LINCOLN - Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built. WOODROW WILSON - The history of liberty is a history of the limitation of governmental power, not the increase of it.
For freedom's sake what ought we to be? Humble, a Servant, a Realist, Obedient, Sensitive, Just, Magnanimous, Courageous. These are offered as a one-word condensation of the Beatitudes.
If one wants to be free, one must learn to choose. God gave us the freedom to choose but He does not give us the power to choose the result of our choosing. This is a year for choosing. For which candidate would Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Madison, Lincoln, or Wilson vote? All were advocates of limited government and personal responsibility.
One final word, "Do not sell cheaply that for which your fathers gave so much." |
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