for all?
June 23, 2009 (Tuesday)
”Give me liberty or give me death!” Those words of Patrick Henry reflect the feelings of millions of people around the world today. Sad to say, freedom is so precious that it is unavailable to many people. You and I as Americans view freedom as God-given, a basic human right.
Our hearts go out today to the people of Iran, putting their lives on the line as they publicly demonstrate. It should be obvious to all of us that the resentments being reflected by the crowds in the streets are about more than election results. The universal longing for freedom is real.
As we take a look at the history of freedom in the world, it becomes obvious that the masses of people have lived without it. Centuries of oppression preceded the high-handed methods of the Kings of the 1700’s. The longing for freedom became so strong that nations on both sides of the Atlantic threw off their oppressors.
The plain truth is that no government on the face of the earth has the right to enslave the people. Abraham Lincoln described our system of government as that government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It should be plain for all of us to see that the people of all nations see the American model as the most desirable. We are free. How we thank God for this. Let us always remember, however, that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty” (Wendell Phillips (1811–84).