Let Freedon Ring!

Freedom is not merely the opportunity to do as one pleases; neither is it merely the opportunity to choose between set alternatives. Freedom is, first of all, the chance to formulate the available choices, to argue over them -- and then, the opportunity to choose.
C. Wright Mills

This week we celebrate the birth of this great nation. I hope that each of you have taken the opportunity to reflect upon the great freedoms that we enjoy as citizens of the United States. We have opportunities here that we take for granted, that people in other nations can only dream about. We can own property, send our children to school, read- watch - or listen to anything we desire without fear of reprisal. We can wear anything we want, say anything we want and speak to anyone we want. All men and women here have a vote in government regardless of race, religion or social standing.

As a woman, I am very thankful that I was born a citizen of this country. The suffrage of my gender to cruel hands in many nations is overwhelming to think about. When my daughter was 14, we had a talk regarding the freedoms that she and I enjoy here. She had her eyes opened one night as we watched a television documentary about the life of women in Afghanistan under the reign of the Taliban. There was one scene in the program where a group of women were gathered in the street wearing their black berkas. All of a sudden, a man came by and started beating one of the women with a large stick as the others scattered. It was revealed through an interpreter that the awful crime the woman had committed to deserve this beating was that she had worn nail polish. My sweet innocent daughter was so angry to think that a woman could be treated this way, but she was even angrier that this treatment was accepted by that society. As she put it - just because society accepts it - does not make it right.

We live in a society that has great freedom - but with that freedom comes responsibility. We must safeguard our freedoms through active participation in our government. Our voice matters. Our vote does count. If we lay back and let others make decisions for us without regard to what those decisions are, then we are being not only incredibly ignorant - but ungrateful as well. It is our right and our responsibility to write or call our congressmen, to protest that which we find unjust, to attend our city council meetings on occasion and to monitor those that we have charged to govern us. It is our right and responsibility to elect righteous men and women to governing positions and to use our votes to throw them out of office if they fail represent the values that we hold dear. It is our responsibility to judge our judges and protest those decisions that we find to be unjust. It is our responsibility to do everything that is legal, moral and ethical to safeguard the rights that we have been blessed with and to vanquish any foe that threatens these rights to destroy. It is our responsibility to hold the torch of liberty high and to be a beacon of hope for the oppressed peoples of the world so that they - seeing our good example - may wish to fight for these rights in their own countries. It is our responsibility to be the best Americans we can be. May we all be proud of our freedoms and resolve to be more active in our role as good citizens of this - the most wonderful country on Earth.