A Republic...If You Can Keep It
Dear
friend,
Benjamin Franklin's famous response to the question, "Doctor, what have we got? A republic or a monarchy?" has replayed many times in my mind in recent days.
While many on the left clamor for President Trump to impose national restrictions on our freedoms and many on the right insist that ANY concession to the reality of the coronavirus is tyrannical, I am left to wonder if either side really understands what they are saying.
The founders understood that with every right granted by God comes a corresponding responsibility. They did not view the Bill of Rights as a means to recklessness and anti-social behavior.
In fact, they understood our natural rights came inexorably with an obligation to enjoy those freedoms responsibly so that we could each enjoy them equally.
When your neighbor blares music at 3 a.m. and the police have to be called, he is depriving you of your liberty. Government, constituted for the preservation of your liberty, can rightly take action against him.
Your neighbor's reckless, anti-social behavior led to his sanction. There is nothing tyrannical about that.
As we face the COVID-19 crisis in Texas this July 4th, let's remember that we are part of a society of free people and act responsibly to protect each other, children of a loving God all.
Our rights are protected by government, but they live in each of us. The responsibility to maintain them equally belongs to us all.
That is the message I want to share as we celebrate this Independence Day in America, the greatest success story of liberty in the whole of human history.
Be well and be good to each other. Happy Independence Day.
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