Allen West, with a modern Gettysburg Address.... “Seven score and ten years ago, this great nation stood divided on the fundamental concept of liberty and freedom. There were those who believed they possessed the liberty to withhold the freedom of others and that was defined as their right. Another part of this great nation believed, as a slave owner had written, that we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights from their Creator thus being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This nation went to war, a Civil War, to guarantee the promise of the latter, rather than live with the shame of the former. So here amongst the picturesque Pennsylvania hills surrounding Gettysburg two armies met: the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac. And as poetic justice would have it, they met from July 1st to 3rd in 1863 to determine the course of this great land. The latter prevailed at the end of those three days by way of sheer determination, but both sides displayed uncommon valor and bravery. The defining moment to end the physical bondage of others had come, and freedom was the victor. We remember the honored dead of Gettysburg – but let us remember all the honored dead who have made the stand against the enemies of freedom: Fascism, Nazism, Japanese imperialism and Communism. However today, this great country, this longest running Republic the world has ever known is yet again embroiled in a seminal fight for liberty and freedom. The current ideological conflagration in America pits a belief of collective subjugation, by means of the metaphysical bondage of dependency, to the will of government as opposed to the liberty of individuals to determine their way in life – enabling their pursuit of happiness. Even today the political names of the actors, Democrats and Republicans, remain the same, but only the circumstances have changed. We again are challenged to honor the promise of our founding documents, the Declaration of Independence, and the words of Jefferson, as well as our Constitution. It is not only this internal struggle against progressive socialism but the external fight against Islamic totalitarianism — both threats to individual liberty and freedom. Our men and women in uniform are deployed against the latter adversary, but we must all stand as guardians of this Republic against the former. What is at stake? The exact same thing that President Abraham Lincoln championed 150 years ago, “that the government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.” May God bless the American legacy of courage displayed at Gettysburg, the Gettysburg address, and this beacon of liberty and freedom, the land of the free because it is the home of the brave. The place we call home, our beloved Constitutional Republic, these United States of America.”
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 18:20:29 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015