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"The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom, and leads to "the slavery of sin".THE DRAMA OF HUMAN FREEDOM Everyday we're faced with decisions. Most of them are of small matters, made spontaneously. These are decisions to be kind, or not, to be patient, or not, to speak the truth, or not. Then there are decisions that weigh a bit heavier; usually made with a little deliberation. Will I allow my child (or myself) to watch that movie? Will I visit that elderly neighbor? We tend to think that these aren't very serious matters. But the serious matters come too, in each life. When we are faced with these choices of gravity, whose outcomes to some degree determine who we are, how we see ourselves, and how we think God sees us, all the little decisions we made up to that point weigh in. Yes, each choice we make in freedom, no matter how big or small the matter seems, affects us, changes us. And this is the drama of human freedom, and the call to moral greatness. Every decision, for good or for ill, makes the next good decision easier or more difficult. And each time we choose the way of Jesus, dying to our selfishness, we give Him more room to breathe in our lives, paving the way for His resurrection to take place in us. SISTERS OF LIFE http://www.sistersoflife.org/vmg.html

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA IS A REPUBLIC, NOT A DEMOCRACY

An Important Distinction: Democracy versus Republic. It is important to keep in mind the difference between a Democracy and a Republic, as dissimilar forms of government. Understanding the difference is essential to comprehension of the fundamentals involved. It should be noted, in passing, that use of the word Democracy as meaning merely the popular type of government--that is, featuring genuinely free elections by the people periodically--is not helpful in discussing, as here, the difference between alternative and dissimilar forms of a popular government: a Democracy versus a Republic. This double meaning of Democracy--a popular-type government in general, as well as a specific form of popular government--needs to be made clear in any discussion, or writing, regarding this subject, for the sake of sound understanding.

A Democracy

The chief characteristic and distinguishing feature of a Democracy is: Rule by Omnipotent Majority. In a Democracy, The Individual, and any group of Individuals composing any Minority, have no protection against the unlimited power of The Majority. It is a case of Majority-over-Man.

A Republic

A Republic, on the other hand, has a very different purpose and an entirely different form, or system, of government. Its purpose is to control The Majority strictly, as well as all others among the people, primarily to protect The Individual’s God-given, unalienable rights and therefore for the protection of the rights of The Minority, of all minorities, and the liberties of people in general. The definition of a Republic is: a constitutionally limited government of the representative type, created by a written Constitution--adopted by the people and changeable (from its original meaning) by them only by its amendment--with its powers divided between three separate Branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. Here the term "the people" means, of course, the electorate. From The American Ideal of 1776: The Twelve Basic American Principles.

"History has proven that a democracy is always temporal in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.

From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy,(which is)usually followed by dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years.

During those 200 years, these nations have progressed through the following sequence:

From bondage to spiritual faith
From spiritual faith to great courage
From great courage to liberty
From liberty to abundance
From abundance to complacency
From complacency to apathy
From apathy to governmental dependency
From governmental dependency back into bondage"

AMERICA IS A REPUBLIC, NOT A DEMOCRACY

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. it must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children what it once was like in the United States where men were free . . .” Ronald Reagan

All truth passes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Third it is accepted as being self-evident.