Two great posts already this morning about the meaning of the 4th of July..
Muffy writes these thoughts of being an American and actually taking the time to read the Constitution:
Now, I don’t care if you disagree with me, but please do me a small favor, believe what you want, but do your own research. I have lived all over the world, studied our culture and others for my undergraduate degree and have discovered for myself that of all the choices available, being an American has won me over hands down of the things that are available today. We aren’t perfect, but we are the best thing going, by far.
Today we celebrate an idea that people are endowed with certain unalienable rights…that the people who coined that phrase had to think about it, create that, and felt that it was not part of what was in their world at that time. And while his argument needed further research, my friend never questioned it, never gave it a moment’s pause in declaring that he had rights…I think it would be nice if they knew how far their dreams had gotten.
Over on the other side of these United States, SMASH has written his own thoughts, in the vernacular of the times, about Independence Day:
That being said, we must not overlook the importance of this Occasion. In one unanimous vote, the Delegates of the Continental Congress have sent to the World a clear and unambiguous Message – that we are no longer rebellious British Colonists, but American Revolutionaries. It is not possible to turn back now. Every Man must choose his path – loyalty to the Crown, or to these newly united States. There can be no middle Course. As Pennsylvania’s Benjamin Franklin warned the Delegates, “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately.”
This is not the end of our Struggle; the way ahead will not be easy. Still, it is a necessary and important Milestone on our road to Freedom.
[…]
The document concludes with this Oath, followed by the signatures of the various Delegates:
For the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
Our Leaders have spoken, and a new democratic Nation on this day has been born. May Providence grant us the wisdom to keep it free.
A great way to spend my morning with some coffee and the deep thoughts of friends.