Independence Day July 4, 2006

Tomorrow we celebrate our independence, our freedom that was earned through the lives of very brave people a long time ago. I chose the images above because your liberty is always at risk. If you do not stand up for what you believe, someone will try to take it away.

Someone might tell you that you can't thank Jesus Christ for blessing you with a brilliant mind that allowed you to become valedictorian of your high school.

Someone might tell you that you will learn about Kwanzaa, but cannot teach others the meaning of Christmas.

Someone might even tell you that 15% of the people should get 80% of the jobs.

Someone might tell you it's ok to kill an unborn fetus, but you shouldn't eat meat.

Someone might even try to tell you that your child having a mother and a father isn't normal.

Someone might say that marriage is whatever you want it to be.

Everyone has a right to their opinion, but I also have a right to mine. I lived overseas for five years and visited some wonderful and not so wonderful places. I have taken up arms for other countries so that they too might experience some of the freedoms we enjoy. I have been called a "babykiller" by a snot nosed know-it-all college kid out of ignorance. I have been told that I am "brainwashed" because I served in the United States Navy. To them I say I served then and I would serve again. As you celebrate your freedom tomorrow please take a moment and remember those brave souls we revere from so long ago, but don't forget the men and women who, right now, are spreading these same freedoms across the globe.
When you hear the National Anthem stand, remove your hat, face the flag, and listen or sing along. When you say the pledge of allegiance know what it means:

January 14, 1969 - During his weekly television show, comedian Red Skelton recalled a lecture by his teacher concerning an air of boredom and indifference by the students while saying the pledge. Here is a portion of that lecture - followed by an observation of his own.

I
(Me, an individual, a committee of one.)
Pledge
(Dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity.)
Allegiance
(My love and my devotion.)
To the Flag
(Our standard, Old Glory, a symbol of freedom, wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, "Freedom is everybody's job.")
Of The United
(That means that we have all come together.)
States
(Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided with imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common purpose, and that's love for country.)
Of America. And to the Republic
(Republic--a state in which sovereign power is invested in representatives chosen by the people to govern. And government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.)
For which it stands: One Nation,
(Meaning, so blessed by God.)
Indivisible
(Incapable of being divided.)
With Liberty
(Which is Freedom; the right of power to live one's own life, without threats, fears, or some sort of retaliation.)
And Justice
(The principle or quality of dealing fairly with others.)
For All
(Which means it's as much your country as it is mine.)

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God. Wouldn't it be a pity if someone said that is a prayer, and that would be eliminated from schools, too? -- Red Skelton

Click Here to Listen.

“Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”
John Jay
Founding Father
and
First Supreme Court Justice