Time: The 1770's.
Place: The thirteen American colonies.
Situation: You live in a land ruled by tyrannical, despotic King George III of England. You must pledge allegiance to this king; or risk being threatened, censored, searched, frisked, and arrested. You must pay burdensome taxes to this king to support his control over your life. If you protest any of the king's abuses publicly, you are brutally imprisoned without trial. After years of this treatment, you eventually reach your breaking point and decide to revolt and declare your independence from this tyrannical regime.
King George III
We all know what came next...
Thomas Jefferson drafted a document boiling over with outrage. Fifty-six prominent, highly-educated men from all thirteen colonies signed and sent it to the tyrant, King George. This document outlined--in no uncertain terms--the colonists' grievances and the reasons why they were declaring their independence from England and the King.
They knew, that by signing this Declaration of Independence, they were laying everything on the line. They knew that the King would consider their action to be treason and that it could cost them their lives. But they went ahead and pledged it all—“our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”—because they believed in a radical idea: that all people are created free and have sovereign God-given rights.
Most of us know the general stories surrounding the signing of the Declaration and the ensuing Revolutionary War-- the Boston Tea Party and "taxation without representation," Paul Revere's ride, "the shot heard round the world," and others. And we're familiar with the John Trumbull painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776:
Many of us had to memorize the famous paragraph from the Declaration in school: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."
On this 4th of July weekend, I'd like to look a bit deeper at the grievances the signers of the Declaration of Independence had against King George. I came across a commentary by John Whitehead, in which he shows us what the Declaration of Independence might look and sound like in today's vernacular. I think you'll find it interesting to compare the signers' grievances in this modernized version to events occurring in our country today...
There comes a time when a populace must stand united and say “enough is enough” to the government’s abuses, even if it means getting rid of the political parties in power.
Believing that “we the people” have a natural and divine right to direct our own lives, here are truths about the power of the people and how we arrived at the decision to sever our ties to the government:
All people are created equal.
All people possess certain innate rights that no government or agency or individual can take away from them. Among these are the right to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The government’s job is to protect the people’s innate rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. The government’s power comes from the will of the people.
Whenever any government abuses its power, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish that government and replace it with a new government that will respect and protect the rights of the people.
It is not wise to get rid of a government for minor transgressions. In fact, as history has shown, people resist change and are inclined to suffer all manner of abuses to which they have become accustomed.
However, when the people have been subjected to repeated abuses and power grabs, carried out with the purpose of establishing a tyrannical government, people have a right and duty to do away with that tyrannical government and to replace it with a new government that will protect and preserve their innate rights for their future wellbeing.
This is exactly the state of affairs we are under suffering under right now, which is why it is necessary that we change this imperial system of government.
The history of the present Imperial Government is a history of repeated abuses and power grabs, carried out with the intention of establishing absolute tyranny over the country.
To prove this, consider the following:
The government has, through its own negligence and arrogance, refused to adopt urgent and necessary laws for the good of the people.
The government has threatened to hold up critical laws unless the people agree to relinquish their right to be fully represented in the Legislature.
In order to expand its power and bring about compliance with its dictates, the government has made it nearly impossible for the people to make their views and needs heard by their representatives.
The government has repeatedly suppressed protests arising in response to its actions.
The government has obstructed justice by refusing to appoint judges who respect the Constitution and has instead made the courts march in lockstep with the government’s dictates.
The government has allowed its agents to harass the people, steal from them, jail them and even execute them.
The government has directed militarized government agents—a.k.a., a standing army—to police domestic affairs in peacetime.
The government has turned the country into a militarized police state.
The government has conspired to undermine the rule of law and the constitution in order to expand its own powers.
The government has allowed its militarized police to invade our homes and inflict violence on homeowners.
The government has failed to hold its agents accountable for wrongdoing and murder under the guise of “qualified immunity.”
The government has jeopardized our international trade agreements.
The government has overtaxed us without our permission.
The government has denied us due process and the right to a fair trial.
The government has engaged in extraordinary rendition.
The government has continued to expand its military empire in collusion with its corporate partners-in-crime and occupy foreign nations.
The government has eroded fundamental legal protections and destabilized the structure of government.
The government has not only declared its federal powers superior to those of the states but has also asserted its sovereign power over the rights of “we the people.”
The government has ceased to protect the people and instead waged domestic war against the people.
The government has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, and destroyed the lives of the people.
The government has employed private contractors and mercenaries to carry out acts of death, desolation and tyranny, totally unworthy of a civilized nation.
The government through its political propaganda has pitted its citizens against each other.
The government has stirred up civil unrest and laid the groundwork for martial law.
Repeatedly, we have asked the government to cease its abuses. Each time, the government has responded with more abuse.
An Imperial Ruler who acts like a tyrant is not fit to govern a free people.
We have repeatedly sounded the alarm to our fellow citizens about the government’s abuses. We have warned them about the government’s power grabs. We have appealed to their sense of justice. We have reminded them of our common bonds.
They have rejected our plea for justice and brotherhood. They are equally at fault for the injustices being carried out by the government.
Thus, for the reasons mentioned above, we the people of the united States of America declare ourselves free from the chains of an abusive government. Relying on God’s protection, we pledge to stand by this Declaration of Independence with our lives, our fortunes and our honor.
Do any of the listed grievances sound eerily similar to what we're experiencing today? By current standards, the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence would have been labeled as "domestic terrorists," put on a government watch list and surveilled, had their personal information "doxxed," been censored, and arrested without being charged.
After 246 years, "we the people" seem to be right back under the boot of a tyrannical government. This time, though, we've done it to ourselves by being asleep and allowing it to happen. The grievances endured by our founding fathers haven't ended--they have simply evolved.
We are still being robbed blind by a government of elected elites and un-elected bureaucrats, who have mismanaged and mis-spent our hard-earned tax money.
We are still being spied on.
We are still suffering the consequences of non-enforcement of our laws, as evidenced by our crime-ravaged cities and uncontrolled immigration.
We are still being locked up by corrupt justice officials without trial and without being charged.
We are still being ravaged by a government of ruffians and thugs.
We are still being forced to surrender our freedoms—and our sovereignty-- to a global world government.
We are still being forced to surrender our freedoms—and those of our children—to a corrupt government and their corporate partners-in-crime.
This tyrannical erosion of our freedoms didn't just happen overnight. It snuck in when we weren't paying attention. It hid under the guise of national security, climate change fears, the war on drugs, the war on terror, immigration rights, political correctness, hate crimes, diversity and equity, gender wars, COVID-19, the Green New Deal, "Build Back Better," and a host of other official-sounding programs aimed at expanding the government’s power. It was all done for our own good, right? To keep us safe, right?
The foundation has now been laid for a rather bleak future, and it's going to take a LOT to undo the damage that has already been done. A recent poll shows that more than one quarter of Americans feel so detached and estranged from their government that they feel it may "soon be time to take up arms against it." It's beginning to sound like 1776 all over again.
I don't have any easy answers. But I DO know that the last thing we should do is give up...or give in.
Together, we need to reaffirm our independence with a renewed dedication to freedom and liberty.
We need to pay attention and not just tune out.
We need to stand up, take deliberate action, and unify in our efforts to re-create a government that is for the people.
We ARE created equal.
We ARE sovereign beings endowed with the inalienable rights of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately."
-Benjamin Franklin
(at the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776)
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