We have arrived at a moment in history where we must make a choice. Will we be free or will we be subjects to the will of those who believe they know better. I choose to be free.<\/p>\n
I understand how we have arrived here. Freedom – for all of its beauty and promise – freedom is frightening. Choosing to be free, to walk your own path, comes without any guarantees. Your path might end in happiness, but there is a risk, a risk that the path ends in misery. It is this uncertainty that tempts us to sacrifice freedom for protection from misery and the promise of happiness. That promise is a lie.<\/p>\n
Imagine living subject to another’s will, every choice commanded to you; your job, your house, your food, prescribed to you by a faceless someone. Imagine what happens to your soul when you are not able to live your own life. Is that not misery? I say that our choice is abundantly clear. We can choose the path that offers an opportunity for happiness, or the path that without question leads to misery.<\/p>\n
Freedom or slavery. Independence or servitude.<\/p>\n
Today I declare myself a free and independent being, capable of rational thought and autonomous action. I denounce the empty promise of security in exchange for liberty.<\/p>\n
I claim anything I am independently capable of as a right. I understand that there are consequences to my actions in exercise of those rights and I accept responsibility for those consequences, good or bad.<\/p>\n
I do not claim as a right, anything requiring the labor of another. I do not have the right to demand anyone perform labor on my behalf. A right requiring one person to labor for the benefit of another is nothing short of slavery.<\/p>\n
I am a descendant of John Gray, the longest surviving veteran of the Revolutionary War.
\nI am, in fact, a son of the Revolution. A warrior’s blood flows through my veins. A warrior for freedom. It is that blood that compels me to declare my independence, my right to be free, my right to pursue freedom for others.<\/p>\n
I will not lie down in the face of tyranny. I will stare back into those empty eyes, and I will see the rot and the weakness, the sinister core hiding behind a veneer of goodwill. My words are weapons and I will not hesitate to use them in the fight for freedom.<\/p>\n
On this day, July 4th, 2012, in the footsteps of giants who fought for a society based on individual liberty and sovereignty, I declare my independence.<\/p>\n
Let’s roll.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have arrived at a moment in history where we must make a choice. Will we be free or will we be subjects to the will of those who believe they know better. I choose to be free. I understand … Continue reading