July 4th!!

KG_Jag · #1 07-04-2008, 04:13 PM

Happy Independence Day to the United States and all its citizens, who have arrived here from all points of the globe!

Enjoy your dogs, brats and burgers, all washed down with a special cold beverage. But try to save some time this holiday weekend to reflect upon and perhaps do some reading concerning what the celebration is [or at least should be] about.

Study the history that led to Revolution, in which colonists were very passionate and fought on both sides. Focus on the actions and structure of the government in London that led to the Revolution. Take a careful look at the words contained in the Declaration of Independence. Read the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and examine the three distinct branches in a limited federal government that they established.

Look forward over the next 200 + years and see where we have gone and how we have gotten there. Have we stayed true to our founding principals? If not, why not? What shifts from that course have been for the better and which for the worse? What are the long term and lasting consequences of it all? How did a handful of frontier hicks create such a great and successful republic in just a couple of centuries? Could we do it again today? Can we maintain what we have built on both the individual and national levels? Do take the time to study and reflect upon these issues and questions, as it is important that at least a few "us" make the effort.

KG_AGCent · #2 07-05-2008, 06:48 PM

After reading the the title of this topic I was pleased to see that the body of the post will not require me to launch into a tirade about one of my biggest pet peaves. The 4th of July is meaningless. The date is simply an incidental to what is particularly important about what we are observing. We are observing Independence Day. An occurance that happened to fall on a particular day not a particular day that happened to contain an occurance. Though difference may seem small to others, it is the driving notion behind never referring to the Terrorist Attacks on the WTC as 9/11.

Props to Jag!