Freedom is a possession of inestimable value.
- Cicero
One of the best ways to estimate the value of something is to consider what life would be like without it. Today, it has been 229 years since the U.S. officially declared itself free from England, establishing a government that ensured - at times wisely, and other times not so wisely - certain unalienable rights to citizens that had been denied the same by their former ruler. So the early Americans were painfully aware of what the absence of such basic rights meant, and over 200 years later, we still benefit from this.
But for another spin on the subject, consider a sharp bit of common sense from G.K. Chesterton: "To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it." While we should be duly grateful for how blessed we Americans are to live under a government that grants us rights, the fact that such an obvious point should have to be made - even decades before Roe v. Wade and "the right to choose" - is indicative of how highly this country has exalted the idol of individual rights. The principle behind "Let freedom reign!" has been extolled to the fatal disregard of whether or not our free choices have inherent moral value. In other words, America needs to be reminded that at the end of freedom, there are reins - held by a God whose absolute moral standard will, quite frankly, trump individual rights as the majority of modern-day America knows them.
On that lighthearted note, have a happy (and safe) Fourth of July, everyone. (And just for kicks, a quick poll: do you call them "fireworks," "firecrackers," or something else? I want to know if it is a regional thing, or what.)
