It's Called Independence Day

It’s Called Independence Day

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

July 2, 2015

Bear with me, this is more than a gripe session, but I’m sick and tired of the Independence Day holiday being referred to as simply the Fourth of July. People wishing one another a happy Fourth, commercials offering Fourth of July sales, newscasters discussing the Fourth of July holiday weekend. There is a Fourth of July on every printed calendar in whatever language is spoken in whatever country one resides.

But, is there really independence in places like Angola, China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, or Yemen? They hopefully “yearn to breathe free,” to borrow from Emma Lazarus’ poem “The New Colossus.”

Thomas Jefferson, credited with writing the Declaration of Independence, summed up a plurality of grievances in a rather brief document that helped give birth to a nation that has stood since 1776 – through peace and war, through economic depression and financial successes, through division and rebirth, through attacks and rebuilding – but always knowing that our independence and freedoms are endowed via our Creator – yes, G-d.

Founded on Judeo-Christian principles and the “laws of nature” our nation was born under the desire to break free from the yoke of despotic rulers seeking to enslave the American people without proper representation an ocean away and thrust overburdening taxes upon the people, again, without consent of the governed. And thus the Declaration that “declare[d] the causes which impel[ed] them (us) to the separation.”

Now, 239 years later, this nation finds itself on the precipice of returning to those dark days of a distant government – Washington, DC – despotically ruling over a people with barely a whimper from the majority of the rank and file.

In 1973 nine men in black robes, in a 7-2 decision, have since denied more than 60 million people their unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That was the Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade. With many decisions, some better than others in the interim, fast forward to 2015 when nine entirely different men and women in their black robes made decisions deleterious to the American people as a whole without consent of the governed. Oh, yeah, the Supreme Court does not answer to anyone. The legislative branch of this tripod of governance is responsible for passing and enacting laws, not the courts. Someone missed that lecture in Government 101 on some liberal college campus.

Within a week the nine black robed men and women did not dispense justice, they enacted legislation – twice.

Chief Justice John Roberts has twice personally upheld Obamacare, which on its surface would seem an anathema to Constitutionality. Upheld is a law requiring Americans to purchase a product they may or may not want, often at costs beyond people’s means or at the very least more than they paid when even a modicum of competition existed. More money for fewer choices – that does not sound like independence to most Americans. Not only should Obamacare be repealed, but national competition, not just state, should be granted to ensure Americans get the best possible healthcare with as little government interference as possible.

A week later, the High Court, and they must have been on a trip to Denver before issuing their ruling in support of nationwide gay marriage, again enacted legislation. Prior to this decision, gay marriage had heretofore been a states’ rights issue – with compliance to the 10^th Amendment to the Constitution. Once again, for those asleep during Government 101, Amendment X says:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

By its imposition of gay marriage on the nation as a whole, the slippery slope becomes immeasurably more slippery. (I will have a column on this before long.) Marriage, as per a little bestseller known as the BIBLE or the TORAH, is defined as one man and one woman – period. Now, in 2015, the Supremes have redefined marriage in the warped image of a group of five justices, two of whom have performed gay marriage ceremonies and should have recused themselves from this case.

The next test case will undoubtedly be the attempts to legalize polygamy. As it is, there are already complaints that those who oppose gay marriage on religious grounds are being forced to issue permits or even perform civil marriage ceremonies. This should not be the case as religious liberty was one of the precepts on which this nation was founded.  To be fair, issuing a marriage license, as a clerk would do, is not the same as performing the ceremony, as a judge would do.

There will no doubt be a concerted effort by the homosexual cabal to interfere with and destroy the sanctity of religious entities and organizations – not just churches and synagogues, but Catholic Charities, Chabad houses, and numerous religious-based educational centers and schools.

There is no doubt that religion in the United States is under attack with more and more governmental decisions siding against the free operations of religious organizations. This violates the First Amendment of the Constitution and restricts the independent nature of faith-based organizations to operate in accordance with religious dogma, and not governmental oversight.

Government oversight is the bane of most people’s existence – massive regulation on businesses and a tax system that is chasing businesses overseas and crippling Americans’ ability to create jobs and ultimately financial success and independence.

There is a public school system controlled by government with government balking at private, parochial, and charter schooling as a way to circumvent the evils of the public school brainwashing, as well as language. No longer can Americans freely express themselves without the wrath of a government entity or a business beholden to a governmental agency passing career ending judgment.

Remember the words of Jefferson who noted, “Any government that is big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take away everything that you have.” No need to remind the victims of eminent domain. And this should also be a warning to those demanding more from government and expecting less via their own personal responsibility.

As the United States celebrates its independence, dust off your copy of the Declaration of Independence and do as I do every year – read it aloud with your families – several parts of which becoming vital aspects of the Constitution. Remember that freedom isn’t free and we owe an enormous debt of gratitude to the men and women in uniform who gave their lives for the ideal of freedom and independence in hopes that we the people maintain ours while helping others gain theirs.

Have a happy, safe, and meaningful Independence Day; and may G-d continue to Bless these United States of America.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.