The Defense of Liberty: Personal Responsibility

The difference between life in a democracy and under despotism is found in whether one has ability to voice ideas to his or her government. Those living in a democracy have this privilege while those under a despotism do not. It appears the United States is rapidly moving away from democracy and toward despotism. We must soon choose a new path or suffer the consequences for our failure to do so.

Our country was founded upon the idea all men are created equal and given certain inalienable rights by God. These rights include liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We believe we have been created by God and blessed with the right to pursue the destiny of our choosing. There has never been a nation on earth with the kind of guarantee one receives as birthright in the United States.

We do not have the right to food, housing, health care, birth control, abortion or even education. We have the right to pursue each of these but no inherent right to possess them. Our founders were men of industry, hard workers and self reliant; never in their wildest dreams would our forefathers have imagined a day when the government would take upon itself the responsibility to provide citizens the basic necessities for life. A person like Barrack Obama, Nancy Pelosi or John Boehner would have been laughed out of the first Continental Congress. In fact, with precious few exceptions, all of our current politicians would have been laughed out of that first congress.

Personal responsibility is biblical. God tells us in 2 Thessalonians 3:10, "If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat." We have a responsibility to provide for our own needs and pursuit of happiness. The more we depend upon government for these things the more power government has over our life. The more power government has the less ability we have to interject ourselves into our government. The less we are able to interject ourselves the less democracy we enjoy and the more despotism we endure.

Christians have a responsibility to be politically involved. We must defend liberty and the God given rights we enjoy as part of our birthright as human beings. The defense of such begins when we take responsibility to put food on our own table.

James