August 2009

The men we have come to revere as our founding fathers were strong, opinionated, ordinary men. They didn’t think of themselves as heroes, yet they saw what needed to be done and did it regardless of the personal risk and sacrifice involved.

They must have wondered on many of those long lonely nights away from their lovers and their children if their sacrifices would ultimately be worth while. Surely in those lonely moments of doubt, they must have imagined the challenges, we, their posterity would face. Would we have the courage and the wisdom to face them and prevail? Would we be willing to pay the same price they did to preserve liberty for ourselves and our posterity?

They had charged ahead to the point of no return to the status quo. They had become criminals in the eyes of the lawful government of the land. They were condemned to lives as a fugitives and soldiers when they were really farmers and tradesmen.

I find their ability to imagine our future and plan for it in the constitution they adopted amazing. Clearly they saw our day and recorded warnings and encouragement for us to see at the times we would need it most.

Here then are some timely warnings from our firebrand forebearers, revolutionaries and trouble makers all. I will let them speak for themselves, warnings from the grave:

First and foremost these men feared the potential for evil that government holds. They mistrusted government in general and encouraged the same of us Government was to play a very narrow, controlled role in our nation:

George Washington:

Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.

The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments

John Adams:

Fear is the foundation of most governments.

The happiness of society is the end of government.

While all other sciences have advanced, that of government is at a standstill – little better understood, little better practiced now than three or four thousand years ago.

Thomas Jefferson

Government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one.

Every government degenerates when trusted to the rulers of the people alone. The people themselves are its only safe depositories.

I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.

I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them

Our country is now taking so steady a course as to show by what road it will pass to destruction, to wit: by consolidation of power first, and then corruption, its necessary consequence.

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.

And finally, Thomas Paine

That government is best which governs least.

They also generally mistrusted those who would step forth and seek to govern, understanding that by its nature the very power vested in government would attract the wrong kind of person.

George Washington

Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.

It is impossible to rightly govern a nation without God and the Bible.

John Adams

There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.
Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak.
Power always thinks… that it is doing God’s service when it is violating all his laws.
Because power corrupts, society’s demands for moral authority and character increase as the importance of the position increases.

Thomas Jefferson:

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.
Power is not alluring to pure minds.

There was no mistake in the minds of these men the role that the second amendment was to play in keeping us free. The purpose of an armed citizenry is to protect itself from the tyranny of its own government!

George Washington

The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that’s good.

Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth.

John Adams

Arms in the hands of citizens may be used at individual discretion… in private self-defense.

Thomas Jefferson

The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.

No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.

Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.

We must listen to these men and heed their warnings. The nature of men and governments is unchanging. Our founders experienced oppression, felt the chains and were determined that we never would!

Our precious liberty was fought for and purchased with the blood of men and women whose names we may never hear. And as Jefferson predicted, the tree of our liberty has been nourished with the blood of heroes and tyrants from time to time since then.

The soils of Europe, the sands of Africa the atolls of the pacific, the jungles of Asia, and now the rugged terrain and desserts of the middle east are all stained with the blood of brave Americans who stood with our founders and shouted “the liberty of my fellow countrymen and our posterity is more important than my very life!”

God help us to see clearly and honor their sacrifice. Help us to stand up to any would be tyrants that threaten our liberty and disdain our constitution. Help us to successfully crush any who would rob our children of the great legacy that has been bequeathed to them through the blood and sacrifice of patriots throughout the existence of our great land. Help us not to be the weak link that breaks this divine chain of liberty, the last great hope of the world.

What are you doing to protect your posterity and to save our country? Tell us here.

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