Posted on 01/14/2004 11:44:54 AM PST by Liz
FReepers, now is the time to come to the aid of your country.
America means freedoms ....those guaranteed by our Bill of Rights, and our Constitution......and the rule of law.
But being an American means something more, something significant to each and every one of us.
At this time in American history when there are serious challenges facing our Nation, let us gather together here on this forum, and with one voice, as one people united, outline the things most important to us about being an American.
Post below the freedoms unique to our country, the freedoms and liberties under constant assault, that you feel we are in danger of losing.
Post a list of the things you think are most sacred to America and to Americans that must be preserved.
The constant assault on religious displays goes against the constitutional separation of church and state mandate.
The Constitution does not require complete separation of church and state.
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, even under contemporary interpretations requires the state to be neutral in its relations with religious believers and nonbelievers; it does not require the state to be their adversary.
State power is no more to be used to handicap religions than it is to favor them.
The duty of supporting religion, and especially the Christian religion, is very different from the right to force the conscience of other men, or to punish them for worshipping God in the manner which, they believe, their accountability to Him requires.....as religious haters would have us believe.
If some find the Ten Commandments, a creche, a crucifix "offensive, " then let them simply look away.
That's what the rest of us are told when we complain about the violence, pornography and the rest of Hollywarped's output displayed daily on TV, radio, movies, etc.
We are told to look away from porn and turn it off.
Fine, it works both ways. Let religious haters look away from religious symbols and expressions.
About sums it up.
So you make the case that there has been no decline in the quality of life and freedom and that we are not getting closer to all the rest of the miserable countries? Grading on the curve doesn't work in every instance. I desire things I used to have, things that ought to be and things that can be. Not just that I'm in better shape than some poor wretch elsewhere.
But in the course of researching the guaranteed staggering growth of my target market over the next 10 years, being American also means having leaders completely unwilling to address the financial crisis of the upcoming wave of retiring baby boomers. Both sides of the aisle talk about it occasionally, but neither has done nor plans to do anything remotely substantive.
Being an American means that Jerry, the guy that used to sell me my loaves of fresh-baked bread and apple pies, now changes tires and batteries. Both of us get our bread and pies from Walmart now, at about half the price he used to charge. That'd just be the breaks of business, I guess, but they're also about half the quality.
So he's stuck changing tires, and I was stuck eating crappy bread until I bought a bread machine...Made In China. Walmart didn't have one that was made over here. Well, at least I get to eat a variety of fresh breads again.
Not to be a snob, or anything, because this fine country was first settled by people who are now known as Native Americans, then the Chinese, then the Vikings, then the Spanish, and then the Dutch, but I'm a direct descendant of Cecily Reynolds, of Jamestown. When I think about what being an American means to me, I think about how long my people have been here.
Most of all, though, being an American means being free to say TO HELL WITH CHENEY! BLAKE ASHBY FOR PRESIDENT IN 2008!
That alone won't do it. I hope you are right, I suspect otherwise.
A bit late for that if you mean you're worried about losing liberty in the fashion the founders meant along with government of limited powers expressly enumerated in a constitution formed by free and sovereign states. The original Republic died with Lincoln's war and the central power grab and corporate welfare looting of the nation has been on a fast track ever since. The history of the nation in the last 150 years is the growth of government. Government is force. When government grows freedom is lost. The last chance we had to stop the "progress" was in the 1930's. There is no going back now. The great evil of socialism is that it can not be undone, not without a total financial collapse first that is.
BTW those who believe in socialism and big government no longer believe in the nation state. As you see we are in the process of erasing our borders. First with Mexico, then Canada, then the new North American Union will merge with the rest of the hemisphere into one giant bloc. It will take time and be a bit messy but that is what the future is. China will dominate the east. The EU will include North Africa and sub sahara Africa will always be a mess that is exploited for its mineral wealth.
I'm not miserable, I'm a realist.
I'm sure you're happy, I'm glad for you. That doesn't change what is.
I'm a happy person, which doesn't mean I'm happy about everything. Particularly the direction of the country and our society.
" And there's nothin short a dyin,
That's half as lonesome as the sound,
As a can of kipper snacks being opened,
And a lungful of sticky kind buds goin' down."
I'm being facetious because a fair appraisal of the challenges we face leaves me depressed, but if we're going to scratch our way back to prosperity we have to do it ourselves, despite all the governmental mismanagement.
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