AMERICA WILL ALWAYS NEED LEADERS

When I was in high school, I hated history. It was the most boring subject in school, possibly because history teachers tend to focus more on dates than on details. About 12 years ago I started researching my family tree as a hobby. After a while, I found myself wanting to understand history better. I ended up learning more about politics too because so much of our history is related to political decisions made by our forebears.

A good friend of mine is a direct descendant of Patrick Henry. He is famous for the following line during the months leading up to the American Revolution: "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" Think about that. Here we had 13 American colonies, no standing army, and they were planning on going up against the greatest military on the face of the earth. Their chances of actually winning independence were slim. Indeed, fiery words like these could be considered treasonous to the British and may have been punishable by death had the British won the war or captured Patrick Henry. But he stood up in a room full of his peers and said that if he couldn't live free, he would rather not live at all. How many of us would be willing to make that choice in defense of freedom? Most Americans don't even realize how much of our freedom has been consumed by our own government since we declared independence in 1776. We are taxed at a far greater rate now than we were when our forefathers decided they had had enough of British tyranny. Our right to practice our religion has been trampled on by secularists who insist that you cannot have any religion outside of secular humanism or atheism and many Christians have allowed them to do it. Some Christians assume that if they just practice their religion quietly, everything will be okay. Well, evangelical Christians could change the direction of the government, if they bothered to educate themselves and vote, but far too many sit out of the elections.

I don't think Americans realize just how miraculous the creation of our nation was and how much responsibility we have to take for its future. We have to be always on our guard against people who would trade our sovereignty for global governance, who would seek to expand government at the expense of our freedoms, who would weaken our country in order to be more popular with the socialist governments in Europe (and try to appease Europe's intense jealousy of our success). I say stand up and be a man, stand up and be a woman. Defend your country from people who seek to enslave you with laws that tell you what kind of light bulb you can use, that tell you who your doctor will be and when you can see a doctor. You don't have to risk your life to stand up for your country. You can defend it by voting - but you have to educate yourself. You cannot rely on the media to tell you what is going on. These are the same people who would not call Al Qaeda "the enemy" even after 9/11. With the internet you can find both sides of any issue and make a decision. If a politician promises to spend more money on more projects, just remember that money comes from your taxes and new spending means new taxes. Don't let them tell you that they will tax the rich. The rich always find a way to pass it down to the middle class. The real question is, who can spend your money better? You or the government? Now do your civic and moral duty and get informed and participate in your caucuses and your primaries. Make a difference for your country. Be a Patrick Henry for our time.