Posts Tagged “Constitution”
By Larry Oscar
It is interesting to observe how many family traditions creep into our lives over the years. Just about everybody has some favorite tradition for the holidays. Traditions are a part of our life that get ingrained into our very being.
Some people just cannot get through the holiday season without traditions. I wonder why that is? We have some national traditions that go back to the founding of our country. Traditions that are ingrained into the very fabric of our national character. In fact, one of these traditions became so important to the founding fathers that they included it in the Constitution.
You know the Constitution don’t you? It’s the supreme law of the land. One such tradition of the colonialists was free speech. That was something they did not have while living under the king, but after moving to America they suddenly found themselves living where they could say what they thought without fear of retribution from the king’s men.
As the tradition of free speech caught on it became such an important part of liberty that they were willing to die to defend it. Today free speech is under assault.
Our schools and universities have moved from teaching you how to think to teaching you what to think. And when free speech is a threat to their “what to think” belief system they mistakenly want to shut it down. Somehow they think the diversity of thought needs to be suppressed.
I hate to be a bearer of bad news to these folks, but diversity of thought is and shall ever be a founding pillar of our nation. We do not, nor should we, all think alike. Diversity of thought is what drives our quest for scientific knowledge, new technology, and even the arts.
Can you imagine what sort of music we would have today if composers were forced to all compose the same type of music? It is human nature to be diverse. We are all different in many respects. The founding fathers were intelligent enough to know this. That is why we are not one monolithic nation, but rather a united collection of individual states. Each state has people who live their lives with a slightly different approach than other states.
We are individuals who come together and unite for common causes. Diversity of thought and abilities is a natural state of mankind. ( I Corinthians 12). If the Marxist-Socialist beliefs that our universities preach is so superior then they should not be afraid of debate. Today it is said that we have a divided nation. Guess what? We have always had a divided nation. Factions exist in a free society. However, our differences have never been subjected to the scrutiny of social media as they are today.
Today you can exercise your right to free speech in just about 10 seconds and broadcast it to millions over social media. And your thoughts and ideas may just bruise the fragile emotions of many a thin skinned liberal. For they have never learned the value of free speech and how it adds to the advancement of our society.
Without free speech we would have never had the fugues of Bach. We would never have discovered the world was round. Copernicus would have been silenced and we would still think the sun revolves around the earth. We would still be having witch trials. We would never have made it to the moon. And we would never have become a free nation in the first place.
All of these things were the result of free speech. Just imagine what type of world we would all live in today if the United States had never been born. The world owes a great debt of gratitude to this nation. We have not always made the right decisions. And why would we? After all, we are just fallible humans. But the good this nation has done far exceeds the bad.
Our generosity and aid to the other nations of this world in times of crisis has never been equaled. We are the bellwether of liberty and freedom for the entire world. We have laid down our lives so that other peoples in other lands can have the freedoms we enjoy. We are indeed an exceptional nation with an exceptionally diversity of people. May we never be of monolithic thought.
We, the people, must stand up and demand that our institutions of higher learning do not become institutions of lower learning. This can only be accomplished within a climate of free speech. “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” – Ronald Reagan.
(Larry Oscar is a graduate from the University of Tulsa and holds a degree in electrical engineering. He is retired and lives with his wife on a lake in Oklahoma where he brews his own beer, sails, and is a member of numerous clubs and organizations.)
Many years ago my grandfather told me countless times that “Things ain’t what they used to be.”
I never exactly knew what he was talking about, but now I think I do. Well, he was right. Things ain’t what they used to be. There was a time when Americans considered themselves wealthy, not because of the gold they carried in their pocket, but by the liberty they possessed as an American citizen. There was a time when you would never consider disrespecting a teacher. And If you even thought about dropping out of school you would have to face your father, and that would not be a pleasant experience at all. There was a time when you knew the world didn’t owe you one thin dime, and hard work for an honest wage was something you had to do to survive and prosper. There was a time when your word was your bond and contracts were made with a firm handshake. Your reputation depended on you keeping your word. There was a time when you worked to stand on your own two feet and taking a handout was unthinkable. There was a time when you respected your parents and honored the name that they handed down to you from your ancestors. And, believe it or not, there was even a time when you knew that the government would stay out of your business. You could manage your business with common sense and self-respect. There was a time when the American dream was to take up a trade or start your own business. And your business succeeded or failed by the sweat of your own brow, and not by government kickbacks and taxpayer subsidies. There was a time when you took pride in your work, and workers would work extra hours to insure the quality of their work was uncompromised. There was a time when all Americans cheered the success of others. And jealousy and envy were frowned upon, and would never be used, or even considered for use as a political campaign platform. There was even a time when Americans got teary eyed and choked up when singing the national anthem. Americans understood and respected those who gave their lives so that we may live in liberty. During the past few months I have had the good fortune of going through old family photos and memorabilia. Many of them pictures of my grandfather, aunts, uncles, and even a few family outlaws. People who lived through the great depression, the dust bowl, and WWII. People who taught me the value of the name that I carry, and the money in my pocket. There was not a Miley Cyrus, Madonna, Barrack Obama, Al Sharpton, Lady Gaga, or any other bozo among them. They were just solid Americans with a high moral certainty that produced and built a prosperous nation. A nation that is now sadly in decline. Who would have thought that you would see the day when McDonald’s fry cooks and Wal-Mart checkout clerks would think that these type of jobs should be a well paid career to live and raise a family on? Who would have thought that the President of the United States would foster, promote, and encourage a great divide among poor and rich Americans. You have to go back to the Civil War to find a time in American history when our country was as divided as it is today. “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a house divided against itself falls.” Luke 11:17 These words, spoken two thousand years ago by Jesus Christ, speak volumes today. How can we get our nation and economy back on track to prosperity without a unity of leadership? We have unions divided against management, states divided against states, federal laws divided against state laws, government regulators divided against businesses, parents divided against teachers, and politicians divided against our Constitution. There are so many divisions in our country that it is hard to find any common ground for agreement. Many people say that today is no different than our grandfathers’ day, and it will pass. Are you kidding me? This country is at a crossroads. In fact we may have already moved past the crossroads. One thing is for sure. Today we have more people living on some sort of government handout than those who don’t. This my friends is the crucial tipping point toward a national decline. When a politician can stand up and say, ”Vote for me and I’ll give you a tax payer funded government handout”, and get elected, it’s all over folks. Nothing left to do but to rename our country….The United States of Detroit
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