WHAT HAPPENED TO INDEPENDENCE DAY?

Today is "Independence Day."  Did you know that?  Social media, TV media, and print media have re-named the day to "Fourth of July."  No longer do we say "Happy Independence Day; now we say "Happy Fourth of July."  Is there any significance to that?  

As I See It, there is. 

Before you go too far, my son called me a "pessimist" last night, so I will be cautious about being "pessimistic" and try harder to be "realistic" - which is what I would describe myself.  

Back to the significance of the holiday name change.  

Where We Came From
It was the desire for independence from governmental and religious tyranny that sent our settlers this way from Europe.  In a single document signed by men who would sacrifice their lives, fortunes, and families to ensure freedom to govern themselves according to the ways they saw fit, these men declared independence from England's rule.  That document started a war!  The men who signed it and their supporters won.  A new constitution resulted - but could not be ratified until the first five amendments were in place.  Our new nation was born to protect free speech, religious liberty, and the right to keep and bear arms.

Where We Are
Our society JUST celebrated a flawed move by our Supreme Court to declare same-sex marriage to be legal and recognized by all 50 states based on a twisted reading of the 14th Amendment of our Constitution.  In that decision, faith groups will now be required to face consequences - social or financial - for disagreeing with this decision and refusing to recognize or perform same-sex marriages.  Businesses can not take a stand on the issue without being declared bigoted and be forced to pay huge fines that would put them out of business.  Bottom line - the religious liberty and freedom of speech promised by the first amendment are no longer in effect.  They have effectively removed the 1st amendment from protecting anyone.  Our ability to lay open the sins of our government and make them accountable is dwindling because the government can now silence speech.  The recipe is there, and more will be forthcoming, As I See It.  (I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic.  it is the trend.)

In addition, there is a growing challenge by the government to persuade the citizenry to give up their guns.  An effort to have the 2nd amendment (promising the right to keep and bear arms) overthrown is afoot among us as well.  It was this very right that enabled our nation to become a nation in the first place.  And a growing number of Americans still want that freedom today!  

And so we are subtly, year-by-year, renaming our holiday that should celebrate our nation's birth.  We no longer mention much our foundations - for our media, government, and increasing numbers in our country want a nation with a different foundation.  

• We want to remove the ability of our citizens to protect themselves from armed attackers. 
• We want to remove the mention of "God" from the public square.  (Even our President Obama wants to "help us overcome our religious views.")
• We want to remove the ability of the press and the citizenry to speak their mind and tell the truth if the government wants the people to hear a lie.
• We want to remove our historical "flags" when it is convenient to take the conversation off the real issue.  (The effort to "ban" the confederate flag across the land.)
• We want to take away the police' ability to enforce the law by declaring them to be the bad guys when they do so firmly (and sometimes resulting in the death of a criminal citizen). 
• We want to re-write history and put our founding fathers in a bad light. (As if this one doesn't best explain our re-naming of our holiday!)  

America seems to be trying to shun its heritage in order to turn her path toward a failed future.  Cultures and countries that have already gone where we are heading, embraced the values we are embracing, forsaking the morals we are forsaking are all in decline.  Our president doesn't even want America to be the greatest nation in the world anymore.  He wants to apologize for being that in the past.  And too many of my countrymen are willing to endorse this!  

In the process of changing directions, we have ...

• Forsaken the blood of those who died to keep our country strong
• Forsaken the blood of Christ who died to enable our country to exist
• Forsaken the faith of those who gave so much to make our country in the first place
• Forsaken the faith of those who went before us to make us "one nation under God."

As Ronald Reagan is credited with saying, "A nation that is not under God is a nation that has gone under."

As I See It, America needs to return to some things if we hope to make any REAL progress.  We need our freedoms again.  We need our "Independence Day" again.  And we need to get rid of "the Fourth of July."  We might celebrate on 7/4, but we must never forget why!  As I See It, this is INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Your comments are always welcome!  Happy Independence Day!