Patriots Will Stand United and Strong

Colonel Dan, SASS Life# 24025

When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another…they should declare the causes which impel them to Separation.” ~ Declaration of Independence ~

The words of a concerned Thomas Jefferson ushered America onto a historically unique frontier of freedom. Similar concerns face many of today’s patriots regarding freedom and unity that faced the patriots of yesterday. We know how our colonial past unfolded but what about our future?

I’m seeing more and more examples of less and less common ground among Americans and it concerns me greatly. There’s a schism that is widening into a chasm as we lose our national identity and align ourselves with a variety of splinter groups, cultures and philosophies.

When many of us were kids, Americans seemed to share a sense of traditional values much more so than they do now. We appeared to have been more aware of what the American culture was and could more easily describe it or at least know it when we saw it and identify ourselves with it. God and guns were not looked upon as political leprosy, the founding fathers were not vilified as former slave holders deserving of no respect and the constitution was revered as the foundation of our freedom rather than a challenge for politicians to circumvent and ignore…and we were just Americans, no in-your-face use of hyphenations that I remember. Today we seem to have lost that melting pot look and are now more like a mosaic of sub-cultures that feel a need for a hyphenated identity.

We’re losing our sense of national unity that was America’s unifying force or national glue that came from sharing a set of traditional cultural values. The glue that keeps any country unified boils down to a very few important ingredients…a common language, secure borders, a shared set of traditional values upon which the country was originally based and a sense of identity with a culture which sets its people apart from the rest of the world. In order for any group of people to remain united, they must share a common set of values they incorporate into their lives as their own and pass along to their children. History has shown that when those characteristics are lost, the country soon comes unglued.

It seems to me that we are now coming unglued and polarizing into two major camps whose philosophies will never reach consensus because their fundamental values are mutually exclusive. Can such divergent philosophies ever coexist in one country and under one government? The differences between the two philosophies are stark and becoming more entrenched as attitudes harden. The most basic differences are that traditionalists believe in self-reliance, self-determination and personal freedom, while modern liberals believe in government reliance, government control and very limited personal freedom…for the masses.

Reviewing some concepts of the opposing philosophies, traditionalists generally believe in the former while modern liberals generally believe in the latter: Individual freedom vs. societal control; Small government vs. big government; Independence vs. dependence; Self-reliance and personal responsibility vs. government reliance and “shared” responsibility; Freedom of religion vs. freedom from religion; Equal opportunity vs. equal outcome; Private property vs. public property; National sovereignty vs. world government; States rights vs. federal rights; The money you earn is yours vs. the money you earn is ours; “Shall not be infringed” pertains to the right to keep and bear arms vs. pertaining to political ambition.

This country is becoming so divided in basic values and polarized in philosophy that I can see no clear path to a reconciliation of these two opposing camps.

Continued coexistence would require not compromise but submission because this confrontation involves diametrically opposed principles… and I don’t cotton to compromising principles. As I’ve said, compromise of principle is no compromise—its surrender and traditionalists are unwilling to surrender their principles.

“… in matters of principle, stand like a rock." ~ Thomas Jefferson ~

These attacks on our Constitutional principles are clearly an attack on the country because it seeks to obliterate many of those principles and goes against the very foundation upon which we’ve built our lives. I sense dark clouds forming on America’s horizon regarding philosophical unification vs. separation and it shouldn’t surprise anyone. We faced separation issues in the 18^th and 19^th centuries, so why should the 21^st be much different. I believe those causes that impel separation to which Jefferson referred are being unmistakably declared everyday by these opposing ideological camps and some form of separation is becoming more of a possibility than it has been in 150 years. How this will play out is still TBD, but my faith in loyal Americans remains unshaken.

I strongly suspect that if this divisive trend continues, the day will come when patriots rise up in great numbers, standing united and strong against modern liberalism and vehemently reaffirm their traditional principles for all to hear:

“For those who choose to live in a country wherein the state is dominant over the individual and government control replaces individual freedom, that’s your choice and we’ll respect your right to that choice, but don’t try to fit us into that mold nor force that same choice on any of us. As we respect your right to choose your way, we demand you accord those of us who choose otherwise the same respect in our right to live a life of freedom bestowed by God and guaranteed by our Constitution.

We refuse to accept your philosophy that leads to the loss of liberty. While we refuse to live under a system based on government domination, we’ll respect the choice of those who willingly surrender that liberty in search of security. To us however, such a life goes against the Creator’s vision for mankind and the principles of freedom upon which America was founded. We choose to follow the Founder’s vision that we believe was divinely inspired and not by your vision that inspires authoritarians.

Let there then be no misunderstanding, we will never surrender the rights bestowed on us by our Creator which the Constitution of our forefathers forbids government to negate. Our Constitution still governs this land despite liberalism’s best efforts to undermine it and we refuse to apologize for our beliefs which have their roots firmly based on a set of values that your philosophy does not accept.

Let us then go our separate ways, and do so peacefully as we see no possible reconciliation of two such divergent and mutually exclusive philosophies. If you persist in refusing to recognize our right to choose and continue to harbor thoughts of coercion through ever increasing levels of government regulation then many may see no alternative but to impel separation.”

People who revere freedom over submission will not allow themselves to be dominated by anyone and their resolve will not waiver. As George Washington affirmed during their time of trial, “The spirit of freedom beats too high in us to submit....” I’m convinced, traditionalists will therefore continue to soldier on the path pioneered by our forefathers and choose to live as did they—free!”

Just the view from my saddle…

Contact Colonel Dan: coloneldan@bellsouth.net

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