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** ** >From *TOS* Blog**** ** ** *What to Celebrate on the Fourth of July* by Craig Biddle**** ** ** On July 4, 1776, the Founders declared to the world not only that the colonies would henceforth be independent from ****Britain****, but also, and more fundamentally,**** ** ** 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. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.**** ** ** This was the beginning of the first *moral* country on earth—a country in which individual rights were to be *explicitly* recognized and protected.*** * ** ** Although slavery persisted for several decades after the founding, this aberration was ultimately recognized as incompatible with the basic principle of ****America**** and thus eradicated. Between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the century, ****America**** came close to being a fully rights-respecting society. Men were essentially free to live their own lives, by their own judgment, for their own sake. *This* was the ****Land**of **Liberty****. And this is what we should work to achieve again.**** ** ** On the Fourth of July, celebrate not the rights-violating, welfare state that **America** has become, but what ****America**** once was and could be again. Celebrate man’s “unalienable Rights.” Celebrate the principle that the proper purpose of government is “to secure these rights.” Celebrate the principle that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” And, most of all, celebrate the Founders, who recognized and codified these principles, thus making possible the degree of freedom we still enjoy and the moral ideal to which we should return.**** ** ** Let the fireworks explode!**** **** ###**** ** ** *Connect with The Objective Standard* <http://www.facebook.com/the.objective.standard>**** *Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/the.objective.standard>***** <http://twitter.com/#!/tosjournal>**** *Twitter <http://twitter.com/#!/tosjournal>***** ** ** You're receiving this email because you opted in at our website or in response to correspondence from *TOS*. If you wish to be removed from the list for *TOS* mailings, enter your email address here<http://www.theobjectivestandard.com/mailing-list-removal.asp>and click “remove.” The Objective Standard**** ****PO Box** 5274****** Glen ****Allen**, **VA** **23058******** ** ** Copyright © 2011 The Objective Standard. All rights reserved. **** ** ** -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
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