Freedom and Liberty are two words that engender deep emotions in the hearts of millions of Americans and people around the world.  However, they are also two words that are frequently misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misapplied resulting in a condition that hinders rather than advances them.  Virtually, every American would contend they are supporters of both and want them preserved.  Yet, the divide in America along ideological lines politically, morally, economically, socially, and spiritually reveal that we do not all support the same thing when it comes to Freedom or Liberty.  That is a problem!

Freedom is not being able to do what you want when you want, or even where you want.  Freedom and Liberty are terms embraced by our Founding Fathers and the Framers of the American Constitution to project a truth they understood.  They recognized that both had limitations or parameters within which both had to operate in a Free Civil Society guided by a set of laws, a constitution, and a moral code.  They never intended it to be interpreted to mean citizens could do whatever they wanted without consideration of other people and their rights.

I don’t mean to be crude but the sexual activity between two consenting adults engaged in within the confines of their homes is their business.  The operative and qualifying words are ‘consenting adults’ because even if it is within the four walls of your domicile, pedophilia is both morally and legally wrong and impermissible.  You can do what you and another consenting adult can do what you wish in your own home, but you can’t do that same thing on a park bench, in a subway, on a bus, in a restaurant, or in any other public place.  That would be an infringement upon the rights of others so even though you have Freedom to choose within your own home you do not have that same freedom in public. 

If I exercise my right, any right, and it truly infringes upon your right, my right cannot supersede or supervene upon your rights.  I am not talking about Freedom of Speech as some seem to believe that if one speaks in a manner that is offensive or disagreeable to another they are restricted from the right to speak.  I may not like what you are saying, totally disagree with your premise and thesis, and find your tone objectionable but that does not preclude your right to say it and say it in the manner you desire.  There are limited constraints on speech such as shouting fire in a movie theater or inciting a riot or subversion. 

Your religious beliefs and mine may be polar opposites but you have the right to believe and express your beliefs publicly and privately without infringement by the government.  Of course, if your religious beliefs include the extermination of a group of people other than those following your tenets that is not acceptable in any civil society.

Our Founding Fathers believed in and incorporated the oft-quoted and well-known phrase in the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence that must be examined and embraced if we are to remain the Free Constitutional Republic they established. 

The original draft of Jefferson’s words read; “We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable; that all men are created equal & independent, that from that equal creation they derive rights inherent & inalienable, among which are the preservation of life, & liberty, & the pursuit of happiness…”  The Committee of Five edited it and gave us the revised version found in the Declaration of Independence.  “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” 

We do not have to like or agree with each other but based on the Constitution and I believe the teachings of Scripture we must respect and honor the inalienable or unalienable rights of others.  Life is more than breathing and existing it defines everything about our existence. 

It includes breathing and existing, but it must include the right to live that life freely without undue interference or restriction from any other person or government.  It is a right given by God.  It is the right to self-determination. It is the right to experience, associate with, and practice what we believe.  Let me add, every human born on planet earth as well as those being formed in the womb have the right to Life and the expectation that others will honor that right.  Violating that right is justifiably met with swift and severe consequences legally, morally, and biblically.

Liberty is more than being able to do whatever you want whenever you want to do it.  That is not Liberty it is anarchy and Freedom cannot exist in anarchy.  Anarchy, if allowed to continue long-term results in oppression, coercion, and absolute control by some outside force. 

Anarchy is, by definition, no rule, no law, no order.  Anarchy results in utter chaos, increased civil warring factions engaged in violence, and undisciplined activity.  It results in Tyranny and Tyranny is also no government or no self-government and obliterates a Republic.  Direct Democracy produces both and although many of today’s politicians and some in institutions of higher learning insist that we are a Democracy in America, we are not!  We should never want to be because of the violation of our inalienable rights it would invite.

I believe that the declaration of our Founding Fathers regarding the inalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness is so far-reaching it should become a stand-alone class in Church and the educational system.  No, I do not mean everything about the Declaration or Constitution, those are worthy of study in their own right but those few words to define our major reason and objective in the break from Great Britain in 1776.  Liberty is not the complete pictures and does not cover the full scope of the objective.  Liberty is encapsulated within equally significant commitments by our Founders to Life and Happiness.  I believe that Life and Happiness give form and substance to Liberty.  All three must be protected against all enemies foreign and domestic.

It would serve us well to reread and study the 14^th Amendment in the context of the Declaration of Independence and those guarantees of our inalienable rights.  I won’t go into a long treatise of this amendment but suffice it to say that whenever a government becomes destructive of inalienable rights, it is the people’s right to create a new government with principles and power. 

I am not advocating a coup against our government or our present form of government simply trying to say that the federal and state governments have no right to infringe upon our inalienable rights!  That is part of the sought guarantee and recognition of the right to Pursue Happiness as well as to have Life and Liberty.

This is another in the multitude of reasons I reject the National Socialist Leftist Liberal Globalist Democratic Party and the RINO approach and idea of government.  I support limited government and desire a government of the people, for the people, and by the people.  Both sides of the political aisle have disappointed me and have engaged in agendas and policies that abuse and seek to infringe upon my inalienable rights.  I remember them when it is time to vote.  I remember them when I go to prayer.  I remember them when I speak to others.  I am a lover of America and desire that each of us is afforded our inalienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.

God bless you and God bless America!