Choose Where You Stand

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America will survive today the same way she survived the Revolutionary War. John Adams wrote that America was divided into thirds: one third was either secretly or openly loyal to the British, one third took up arms, and the other third didn't give a damn. Too many people today don't give a damn enough to do what it takes to secure the freedoms so costly purchased in blood. This freedom will look easy to come by when nobody loses his life to get it.

Liberals run our government and control our lives. They do not respect the rule of law on anything. They have imagined a Jesus who asks of them more social responsibility while he ignores the degree of their personal unrighteousness. They hope that he will laud and reward what they do for others and ignore the liabilities they accumulate on the ledger of individual choice. Charity towards others remains imperfect and does you little good until you also do what is right to and for yourself. They do not do right by themselves because they do not care to know or be who they really are. They hide and lie. They pass laws we do not like, appoint bureaucrats who don't like us, and buy things with money stolen from us on which we would never spend a dime. They pick minorities, they set the agenda, and they tell us what we think. Sure, some people write and call and talk, but mostly to people who share their ideals, because the old adage that we avoid discussion of religion and politics was nothing more than an archetype of political correctness.

Engage your enemies. You gain no ground arguing with your friends in the echo chamber of self-justification. We cannot win as long as we stand idly by and watch. If you stand idly by, you get what you deserve. Last October, I wrote of an acquaintance of mine who said that the extend of his action was that he votes. I told him to put his money where his mouth was and run for office and prove his way is better, and he said that he does because he votes. Good for you. So do illegal aliens and dead people. Would you like a medal?

Life is an animating contest of agency, but it's very difficult to do what is right. Most people do what is easy or what other people do. If all of this is just for entertainment or to buoy you up without acting on what you learn, then nothing will get better. Joseph Smith Jr wrote that “A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” By the same token, any movement of men that does not require the sacrifice of all things lacks power sufficient to vouchsafe life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am appalled at how easily we abandon what is true and how simply we repaint the hues of right to rationalize and justify ourselves. The simple fact of the matter is that we are at war with everyone around us, and whether a Screwtape whispers in our ear or we play Screwtape to ourselves, we deceive ourselves and overcomplicate our lives.

We are at war. Don't you dare be proud of peaceful activism in this war of ideals. It will cost jobs, lawsuits, fortunes, relationships and security. I have already lost friends, fortunes, and favor by virtue of my adamant stand for what I believe to be right. Don't let the fear of what might happen paralize you more than what actually happened.

I starting reading Ira Stoll's Biography of Samuel Adams while in Wyoming last week. He said a great many applicable things:

“The liberties of our Country and the freedom of our Civil Constitution, are worth defending at all costs.”

and my personal favorite:

Contemplate the mangled bodies of your countrymen, and then ask 'what should be the reward of such sacrifices?' Bid us and our posterity bow the knee, supplicate the friendship and plough, and sow, and reap, to glut the avarice of the men who have let loose on us the dogs of war to riot in our blood and hunt us from the face of the earth? If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom, go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains rest lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!

Until we act, we in effect bow our knees and crouch down before our oppressors. We cannot reward people who do what is wrong by forgiving them for breaking the law. Hold them accountable. Anger is not action, it is emotion, and until we act, we are open to be acted upon. Said Abraham Lincoln, "To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men."

The Founders were an amazing group of men, as diverse as America is today, albeit in different ways. What kind of men were they? They were men willing to risk it all.

Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families. Of the 56 men, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the war. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships sunk by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in poverty. At the battle of Yorktown, the British General Cornwallis had taken over Thomas Nelson’s home for his headquarters. Nelson quietly ordered General George Washington to open fire on the Nelson home. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt. John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and mill were destroyed. For over a year, he lived in forest and caves, returning home only to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion.

They signed that document knowing that from the point of view of the British it was treason but that in the eyes of God it was faithful adherance to their covenants. They pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.

What kind of men are we? We're worried about our jobs, our cars, our healthcare, our libidos, our home equity, and our freaking tax refunds. I have asked God for a home, for a family, and for children, but it's all for nothing if you don't have freedom. Pursue your happiness. Get fired for speaking your mind and then sue them. Until you believe as deeply in America as liberals do, you cannot win, but if you stand on the green, you will. We eventually will win, so commit to fight to the death until we do.

There is a place for everyone in this army. If not a soldier, perhaps a signalman, a medic, a drummer, or in the quartermaster corps. I wrote earlier this month about the danger of those who will not fight for that in which they believe. I reaffirm that I will stand on the green, even if I stand alone if for no other reason than to be true to the truth that my parents cherished, true to the truth for which martyrs have perished. Faithful and true, I will stand. Choose where you will stand.

Political attitudes in America remain largely the same as they always have been. We still have a third either secretly or openly loyal to tyranny and a third that doesn't give a damn. What makes the difference from year to year, decade to decade, is simply how many people take up arms and show up to stand on the Lexington Green of American politics. When things are ok, patriots stay home and cut wood, balance the books, or watch TV, but when Americans get mad, right thinking Americans, who have always been the deciding factor, get out and vote. He who does not vote has no advantage over him who cannot vote. We ought to be men of action. Until we stand up to tyranny, more will come, but when we stand up, they will be driven from our shores like they always have been, no matter how badly we may believe ourselves to be outnumbered. So what if we be few? We're Americans!