What is the price of Freedom?   I suppose a first question would be, “What is Freedom?“   Freedom is as much a state of mind as a status.  If one is not free in mind, they will live in a type of bondage, even if there are no chains.   Likewise, if a person is free in mind, even if they wear chains, they experience a liberty that many without chains never know.

Does that mean that Freedom is only a state of mind?  No!   True Freedom impacts the mental, emotional, physical, political, economic, and spiritual.   Most people only know partial freedom, in that they are free in some areas but not in others.   For example, one can be free politically but enslaved to debt, a job, or mental anguish.  

How much is Freedom worth?   Are we willing to fight for it?  Are we willing to sacrifice for it?  Do we believe in the ideals of Freedom enough to risk everything, even our lives, to achieve it for ourselves and our posterity?   Is it a goal that we will invest ourselves in only to the extent that it affects us?

America is a divided nation, and although most consider our system of government a Democracy, it is a direct democracy.  It is a Republic.  A Republic is similar to a representative.  However, the Republic has a written, ratified constitution that provides safeguards to protect the minority from abuse by the majority.  The constitution keeps them from being completely unrepresented.

The move to make U.S. Senators elected by voters was an attempt to transform the U.S. into a more representative democracy.  It damaged the State’s sovereignty and limited the oversight and control the individual State would have over the Senator’s conduct and votes in Congress.   A Senator can make decisions based on their ideology or to enhance their personal power, position, or purse rather than the state’s position.  

In a democracy, the majority rules, and out of that can come incredible abuse, and not everyone is afforded representation.   In a Republic, if a law is passed, it can be challenged by the Constitution, whereas in a Democracy, it is majority rule.  An example would be the Jim Crow laws.  They were deemed unconstitutional.

Republics afford representation through legislators proportional to each state as mandated by the Constitution.   The Electoral College would not exist under a democracy, and the popular vote, no matter where it came from, would rule.  

That would mean that the liberal populace of the East and West Coasts, along with voters from Chicago and a few cities, would make all national decisions, including determining the President and our Freedoms.    In our Republic, to ensure that all people, regardless of geographic region, have an equal voice in decision-making, we have the Electoral College.  

In a Democracy, if there came a time when the majority of Americans decided that allowing freedom for people of a particular religious belief was unacceptable, they could be incarcerated and possibly eliminated.   If the majority were of a particular ethnicity and ideological view that all other ethnicities were a danger to society, the freedom of those would be endangered if not eliminated.

Most think that majority rule is our system and is the best.  I suggest that they have not thought through what our Founding Fathers prepared, debated, and risked their lives for.  As Benjamin Franklin reported, when asked what kind of government they had produced, he said, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

What is that Freedom and protection for all citizens worth?   Are we so self-centered that we want what we want with no regard for others?   If none of us has access to Freedom, none of us is safe!  

I desire to have the ideals of the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights fully embraced and allowed in America!   I do not want those with opposing views silenced and censored.  I want to see civil, honest, and open debate.   But even more, I want to see what many of our Founders longed for and urged: dependence on God, strong families, legitimate education, and an insistence on personal responsibility and accountability.    

I believe, as was expressed by John Adams, that our constitution and system of government is sustainable only by the populace being a ‘moral and religious’ people.    I would never want to see religion of any type mandated for the public.   I would, however, like to see a return to valuing the spiritual and moral precepts of the Bible restored to value. 

The differences and overflow of hate existing in America today will not be resolved at the ballot box.   Our issues are not merely matters of political ideology, but the condition of the heart — morally, mentally, and spiritually.   For America to enjoy the Freedom our Founders fought and deliberated for will require a return to God, the Bible, and moral sanity.  

You may disagree; that is your right!   However, if you believe, as do I, that our only hope is God, then I ask you to join me in interceding for our Republic.  

God bless you and God bless America!