This will be a quick post, too much on the table tonight to be too elaborate.
I asked some young students the other day where our civil rights come from. The universal answer was that our rights come from the government. When I read them the preamble to the Declaration of Independence, you know, the part that says "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights", they were shocked. We have before us, a generation that does not understand that their rights come from a higher source. That government is created amongst men to protect those rights.
Without a basic understanding of where rights come from there is little hope that this generation will stand for its rights, will protect freedom, will ensure that democracy thrives. We are facing a huge trade deficit that threatens to undermine our economic vitality. We all appreciate that. But what we fail to see is that which may be a greater threat to our very existence. We are suffering a freedom deficit.
The greatest threat to our liberties comes not from Osama bin Laden or China or any of those forces bent to ruin us. Our gravest threat comes from a burgeoning federal government that has created the perception that it doles out our rights. From a government that intrudes into every facet of our life and that makes every decision for us. A government so large that it crushes all ingenuity and all hope. Government will always behave as large institutions do, it will grow and it will exercise increasing power and authority.
It is up to us, we beings with inherent rights not subjugated to government will, to tame and control this beast. And we do that by voting - see you at the polls!
