Happy Independence Day!
As we spend time with family and friends this holiday, I wanted to provide a gentle reminder of the significance of Independence Day to Americans.
On the subject of liberty, President Woodrow Wilson stated, “Liberty has never come from government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of government power, not the increase of it.”
In the US Constitution, liberty means freedom from arbitrary and unreasonable restraint upon an individual. Freedom from restraint refers to more than just physical restraint, but also the freedom to act according to one's own will.
On freedom, Peter Marshall, former Chaplain of the US Senate said, “May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right.”
It’s been said that today, many in government act out their hostility toward Americans’ free exercise of religion, speech and the sanctity of life, resulting in, “concerted efforts to sacrifice these liberties on the altar of their own personal, secular cultural imperatives.”
Pat Miller summed it nicely… “The best way to take control over people and control them utterly is to take a little of their freedom at a time, to erode rights by a thousand tiny and almost imperceptible reductions. In this way, the people will not see those rights and freedoms being removed until past the point at which these changes cannot be reversed.”
As you celebrate this very important holiday for all Americans, please remember PJI is in the trenches, day- in and day-out, assisting, representing and defending more people than ever, in order to protect our sacred freedoms.
Have a great Independence Day,
Running the Race,
Brad Dacus
Founder, President
Pacific Justice Institute
