Independence Day is my favorite holiday.
We went out for a fireworks display in a field. The fireworks were fabulous. There was family, food, and fun .. and rain. But that was okay. The rain did not dampen my spirit for the holiday. I celebrated my freedom by doing what I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it, where I wanted to do it, and how i wanted to do it.
Today, I heard someone had said something about how our freedoms were really earned during WW II. Now, I am not going to dispute the importance of WW II. However, our freedom was won way back in the Revolutionary War. It was then that this great nation was formed and fought for its fledgling freedom. Wars since have protected that freedom. There is little difference between gaining something and keeping it when a battle is involved. The speaker then went on to expound about our religious freedoms and how he cherished them. Then he said something about other religions in a less than flattering sense.
Some people just don't understand freedom.
Years ago, when I was younger and a comic book reader, I read in a Captain America comic, Steve Rogers (CA) said, "I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to my death your right to say it."
This is how freedom works. If I seek to take away your freedom in some area, I must yield my freedom in that area as well. My right to proclaim my religion comes at the cost of allowing others whom I may or may not disagree with, to proclaim theirs as well.
You cannot both hide behind civil liberty and deny it at the same time. Your right to disagree with me is standing on the foundation of my right to disagree with you.
Many want to proclaim freedom, their brand of freedom.
Freedom isn't freedom until you offer it to someone else without reservation. Freedom for one is tyranny for all.
Feel free to disagree.
