Independence Day should not be celebrated because we, the people, are free. Most of us cannot afford to exercise our God given natural rights. Independence Day is notable because it reminds us that personal freedom remains a goal for humankind at the dawn of the twenty-first century; notwithstanding the efforts of our economic system to put a price on liberty. As we watch the fireworks which symbolize the Revolutionary War we should remember the Declaration of Independence did not announce an intent that all people in the colonies would be equal and free. Rather lives were sacrificed so those persons who would otherwise have control of the colonies, but for the King, could exercise governmental power as equals. Women and slaves were not considered equals in the Eighteenth Century. Before this nation’s Civil War, Frederick Douglass, a former slave, was asked to speak at an Independence Day celebration. Understandably, Douglass commented in 1852 that asking him to celebrate freedom while his own people were enslaved was “sacrilegious irony.” Douglass declared that to those who are not free this nation’s Independence Day celebrations “are a sham.” Today many concerned citizens feel the same way as Frederick Douglass. Our government tells us we are a free people, but only to the extent we can afford our liberties. Politicians claim to own and control God’s gifts to humankind for the purpose of enriching themselves and indebting us to those who by virtue of their wealth are truly free. We, the people of the … Continue Reading