The ability to choose is a basic part of being a free willed individual. Choice is liberty. To not be able to choose is bondage. But, with choice comes responsibility. We have many choices in life, but many come with consequences that are not favorable to us, or those around us, be it in the immediate sense, or down the road.
We don't know the future, and since our lives are a direct result of the choices we make, sometimes it can be difficult to determine if a particular choice is the best choice. Imagine the early colonists to the New World making the choice to make the perilous journey to a place where there is no civilization, and no going back. Their choices had to be carefully measured, for though there were many reasons to remain in the comfort, or in some cases the discomfort, of their home country, the promise of the freedom to choose anything and everything in their lives was stronger. In the New World the journey would be difficult, and life would be near impossible, but the potential pursuit of opportunities were great. The ability to be a property owner, and choose what crops to grow, and how one would live their lives (including the pursuit of religious liberty) was a choice they felt they had to make - so they took the risk.
For most, the result of their choice was death. Of the first 500 colonists over time to make their way to Jamestown, only 60 survived. But, their individual choice paved the way, making it easier for those that followed them - and many understood this may be the result of their choices. For some, the choice was not for themselves, but for their posterity.
The English Colonies grew, and prospered once a cash crop, tobacco, was discovered. The choices of those early settlers were beneficial to those that followed. But new choices arose. New decisions were wrestled with. Bad and good. The choice of slavery joined the choice of freedom - a paradoxical atmosphere in a place that would ultimately come to be the symbol of liberty. And as all of the turmoil, slavery, and war with the tyranny of The Crown gripped the shores of the land on the western edge of the Atlantic, the choice of independence gripped America. The choice of independence was also a difficult one to make, but in the end, it was choice that led the United States to gain independence, and grow into a prosperous nation that even reversed one of its choices, abandoning slavery and striking it from the laws of the nation.
The death of slavery, however, led to the potential for a new slavery. . . progressivism.
The desire for Americans to continue to benefit from the freedom of individual choice was one of the inspirations of the Declaration of Independence
The desire for Americans to continue to benefit from the freedom of individual choice was one of the inspirations of the Declaration of Independence. The text of that declaration declares choice to be a right, and one that is granted by the Creator. The pursuit of happiness cannot be pursued without the availability of choice. Personal choice is the engine behind innovation, and without innovation a society remains static, unable to grow and move forward.
Government does not innovate, it simply controls. Individuals innovate. Individualism, fueled by choices we believe to be best for our own welfare fuels the free market, and makes nations prosper. Individual choice is what has made America great.
But, with freedom comes responsibility. As the old saying goes, "Just because you can, does not mean you should."
Freedom can only thrive if the populace makes responsible choices.
John Adams said, "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
Adams was not saying that everyone necessarily has to be Christian, or church goers, though it doesn't hurt, to necessarily be able to live in harmony with the society capable of living hand in hand with the principles put forth by the Constitution. I have friends that are not "religious," but definitely fit into the mold of being moral and religious in the way Adams meant it. What he meant, and what we have been as a nation until progressivism has worked to dismantle it, is a nation that follows the standards that accompany a system based on Christian-Judeo values. A virtuous society recognizes the importance of choice, that it is a God-given right, and the importance of making moral choices - choices consistent with the virtuous nature of the said society.
To make choices contrary to what Adams considered to be moral and religious would be to doom our culture to collapse, and ultimate death.
Proverbs 14:12 says: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."
The founders believed that Divine Providence had a hand in the founding of this nation, and if our choices remained consistent with the biblical standards of the Creator, the nation would prosper, and stand the test of time. But, that path must be a choice. The people must choose to follow the path to remain moral and religious, and must choose the path to continue to keep the Constitution the law of the land. That is, in addition to reasons of compromise to ensure the Constitution received enough ratification votes, among the motivations behind the federal government not straight out outlawing slavery at the beginning. If the nation was to move forward, shedding the sin of slavery, it must be a choice.
State Sovereignty must be behind the choice, for the States were to be as us - individual and autonomous.
Proverbs 19:21: "Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand."
Be it disobedience to God, disobedience to basic morality, or disobedience to common sense, the fact is we have spent a little over the last one hundred years doing what we can to move away from the principles of the Constitution, away from moral standards, and ultimately away from choice. For the claim of the common good we are losing our choice to bondage under the rule of a tyrannical government.
From the slaughter of the innocent unborn, to defying natural sexuality for perversion, our choices are being engineered to deny choice
From the slaughter of the innocent unborn, to defying natural sexuality for perversion, our choices are being engineered to deny choice. We have literally decided to begin calling wrong "right," and right "wrong." Even in the aftermath of the Zimmerman verdict, the progressive liberal left Marxists are calling for us to abandon our right to defend ourselves if attacked, telling us that we have a duty to retreat instead. But without the choice of defending ourselves, that leaves us with no choice at all.
Once, during a radio program I was hosting, during a conversation about the dangers of the Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. Obamacare, a listener from Canada called in to tell me how wonderful their government run health care was. He then added that where he lived in Alberta, the auto insurance was also government run. I asked, "What if it wasn't good. What if the service was bad, you car was not fixed, and you hated it."
"But it is wonderful," he responded.
"What if it wasn't. Do you really believe the government will always maintain it as wonderful? Wouldn't you want a choice to go to as an alternative, just in case?"
I had broken his argument, because deep down, our free will demands that we always have a choice.
We should always have a choice. And choice often wins out.
Michelle Obama, for example, tried to impose her nutritional standards on schools, but the children made a choice. They did not like the food available, and made the choice not to eat it. They complained about being hungry, and it confused the liberal left.
In Detroit a local income tax was imposed, and the wealthy left the city, leaving the city in big trouble financially. The liberal left was confused. They did not expect the people to make the choice to abandon the city.
Choice is our ultimate weapon, and the purveyors of big government know it, and that is why they are working to eliminate your choice. They want you to be unable to defend yourself, unable to speak out against things you are morally opposed to, and unable to make your own decisions. Without choice, government enslaves us. With choice, we defeat tyranny, and liberty reigns.
Your choice.
