Published in the Dec. 14th edition of the Daily Journal.
In the Nov. 26 edition of the Daily Journal, Paul Hammons wrote a letter to the editor that touched on quite a few things. He touched on the election, evolution and the founding of this country.
I will correct him on his statement that this country was founded on biblical principles because it’s an attempt to rewrite our history.
The governments of the Dark Ages were founded on Biblical principles. Those centuries were dark times that only saw meager progress. Hence why we call them the Dark Ages. The meager progress was directly related to the power of the Church, because the Church suppressed ideas and people who were critical of it, effectively keeping the majority of the people ignorant.
Whereas the United States was founded on the concepts of reason and individuality along with the three principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. None of which are Biblical, and none of which are detrimental to a strong society. In fact those principles are the sole reason we do have a strong society, because men are free to exchange ideas and live their lives as they see fit.
The only rights and freedoms that exist are individual rights and freedoms. The freedoms and rights of a group are related directly to the rights and freedoms of the individuals who make up that group or society. If an individual is not free then there can not be a strong society, because an individual would not be free to participate in and contribute to society as he wishes.
It is also wrong to place society before the individual. There were societies that placed society before the individual. Two such societies were Nazi Germany and the USSR. Both of which did not have strong societies because an individual's freedom was restricted, and the state came first. Those societies even sacrificed the lives and liberty of individuals in pursuit of the state's goals.
Both are also two societies in which our veterans sacrificed life and limb fighting. Sacrifices that are depicted realistically in Saving Private Ryan, a movie Mr. Hammond refuses to see. Their sacrifices must not be forgotten, and should not be censored from the public airways because the real story was and is being paid for by the American public.
Life and limb is sadly the true price of keeping the US free. A nation founded on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A nation that must not forget that and what it means, lest we desire to return to a darker time in the name of a strong society.
