July 4th Food for Thought
In the 1776 Declaration of Independence, our founding fathers made the following accusations against the King of England (among others):
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
Please don't read this as a knock on our government or our President, but I think we should remember some of the reasons we sought independence from England in the first place and how they may be applicable to our current political environment. We sought independence (among many other reasons) because the King saw himself as above the law, used the military for his purposes against the will of the people, created new government offices and used them to harass the people, took jobs away from legal officials who disagreed with his politics, and obstructed foreigners who wanted to visit our country.
Again, I am not trying to imply that our current government is as bad as King George or even close. I do hope, however, that we will remember why we sought independence in the first place and seek to avoid becoming that which we once despised.
Happy 4th!
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
Please don't read this as a knock on our government or our President, but I think we should remember some of the reasons we sought independence from England in the first place and how they may be applicable to our current political environment. We sought independence (among many other reasons) because the King saw himself as above the law, used the military for his purposes against the will of the people, created new government offices and used them to harass the people, took jobs away from legal officials who disagreed with his politics, and obstructed foreigners who wanted to visit our country.
Again, I am not trying to imply that our current government is as bad as King George or even close. I do hope, however, that we will remember why we sought independence in the first place and seek to avoid becoming that which we once despised.
Happy 4th!
posted by teirney at 4:59 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home