We Hold These Truths - That ALL men & women ARE CREATED EQUAL

 

The Fourth of July  is an important part of the heritage and the history of this country.  You may be asking what the difference is.  History is a chronology of something from the past towards the present.  Heritage is altogether different.  Heritage is defined this way:

 1.property that descends to an heir.  My parents were American and by birth I therefore inherit an ownership in American and all it's freedoms and responsibilities. That is my inheritance. 

2. a special or individual possession; an allotted portion. As an immigrant, upon naturalization I may be allotted a portion of those freedoms afforded us under our constitution and laws.   

Yes, I know the 4th is all about fireworks, and BBQ, and apple pie, and beer, and so on.  But I believe it is important to focus on the word FREEDOM, because that is what the colonies were in search of.  Freedom from the King of England.  Freedom of religion, to name perhaps the most significant causes.

After our fight with Great Britton to free us from the British commonwealth, we established a Constitution that  guarenteed we would have self rule. That we would not  be beholden to any King, be it the King of England or one established here in the colonies. 

Further, people were free to worship as they so wished. They were not beholden to the King and the Anglican Church, or any other, Catholic or Protestant rite, or Judaism, or Muslim, or Hindu, or Buddhist church. 

These are founding principles that have guided us for all these hundreds of years.  I think it is important on the things that. have made our Democratic Republic the envy of so many.

We are not by any means perfect. but the phraseology "a more perfect union" underscores what we have been striving for. It has been long and it has not been easy, but we have continued to be committed to this quest that our forefathers started us on.  Our strength is in our diversity. And though we can be many, we can also be one.  

Remember tonight, what an awesome responsibility we have to our nation, to the preservation of a democratic republic, and to be an example to the free world.