Independence Day 2013

Freedom

 We've reached the 237th Birthday of this great nation. We should be happy in celebrating our Independence and the freedoms that come with it; instead, we are more at odds with each other than ever before.  We all talk about the constitution and the bill of rights; but it seems to me that certain people only want to enforce certain rights. Take, for instance, the right to bear arms. This stirs certain people up so much that, even if they have never before owned a gun, they are now buying guns at a record pace. I've seen it myself at a local gun store. Before the recent controversy, there was seldom more than one or two cars in their parking lot. Now, there is sometimes no parking at all. It's a sad statement on the mindset of some Americans that the slaughter of innocent  children has resulted in the need to buy more guns. I sit and watch this with amazement. I believe that we all have that right, but I also believe that all that have arms should be duly licensed and trained, something that the NRA is dead set against.
 The right of Americans to protest is being slowly challenged as well. We all have the right to peacefully demonstrate. Yet, recently, Americans have been arrested for protesting against things like banks that paid no price when they almost brought the country down. One man was arrested for writing in chalk on a sidewalk, protesting a bank. This is just sad. The right of free speech is being challenged every day, yet I see no loud protests, or threats about this from the people who want to keep their right to bear arms. When the Patriot Act was ratified, the right wing lauded it as a necessary tool to protect us from terrorism, instead of protesting it for the affront to the right to privacy that it is.
 Tell me... is it right to pick and choose the rights that we wish to defend, and let the rest, let them be picked off and abandoned as needed by the government? How about Freedom Of Religion? The founders said that congress will not establish a state religion, yet if you check today, many Americans want Christianity declared the State Religion. This is not what the Founder envisioned, and yet that is what the extreme right of today wants.
  I was taught, when I was growing up, that the United States was a place where all were treated equally, the vast melting pot. Sadly, as I have grown older, I have learned that I was deceived. If you are not of the religion or class that is running the country, you are an afterthought. Someone only to be paid attention to around election time, and even then, if certain parties can exclude you, they will.
  We are at a crossroads again, in this beautiful country. We have groups that wish to marginalize anyone that does not follow their agenda. They say that they do not want a Nanny Government, yet they will try to impose their view on sexuality on all that will listen. They cry about the constitution and the founders, and yet they would make women and minorities second class citizens and control their every move. The cry and rend their garments over government intrusion in the private lives of the citizens; and yet, the look to control women and their reproductive rights. 
  We must, as Citizens of the United States Of America, stand up and declare that our rights under the constitution are not negotiable. We must stand up for the weakest of us, and for those who have no voice. This is the charge given to us by the founders. This is the responsibility laid upon us by the Declaration and the bill of rights. We must not let these people, these would be usurper of our rights, oppress and suppress us. We must stand up, as a free people, and reinstate our control over the special interest groups who would control us. We must be the American People that Jefferson and Adams and Franklin and Washington hoped that we would be. We must remain free. Bless you all, and Bless the United States of America. Happy 4th of July.