The High Price of Liberty

By:  Dale Weckbacher

2 Corinthians 5:21

 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

(ESV)

The United States has two official federal holidays that remind us of the high price of liberty.  One of these days is Veterans Day annually celebrated on the 11^th of November coinciding with the anniversary of the signing of the armistice ending World War I.  Its purpose is to honor and thank all military personnel that have served the United States in all wars. 

Thankfully, not everyone who serves does so by sacrificing their life, but those individuals that have served do so at the expense of sacrificing a portion of their life while serving to preserve the liberties of their fellow citizens.  The time they devote to service of country is time they could have invested in getting an education, advancing their career, or starting a business.  While many veterans do accomplish these things after serving, and why we reward them by offering some assistance in these endeavors, they cannot recover the time lost that could have been invested in these endeavors.  I therefore, want to take this opportunity to thank all our veterans for their service and sacrifice.

The United States also celebrates Memorial Day on the last Monday of May.  While Veterans day honors all veterans, Memorial Day gives special honor to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice of their lives in service to their country.  Unfortunately, throughout the relatively brief history of the United States, thousands have made this sacrifice for their fellow citizens to preserve their liberties.  It is because of the selfless sacrifice of these individuals, especially those offering their lives, that someone like myself can have the liberty to express myself through this medium.  I therefore want to extend a heartfelt thanks to the surviving family members of those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for my liberties. 

In addition to Memorial Day and Veterans Day, we as Christians also celebrate two more holidays in the United States, Christmas, and Easter.  John 3:16 reminds us that God loved humanity so much that he gave His Only Son to us.  While the penalty for the sin that separates humanity from God is death (Romans 6:23), by giving His son to us, God has provided a path for the salvation of humanity that does not require our death but the simple act of believing that Jesus’ undeserved death on the cross, since Jesus knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), satisfies the death sentence for sin.  Christmas is a day when we honor the birth of our savior and Easter is a day of celebration of the resurrection of Christ after his death, a demonstration of Jesus’ victory over the ultimate enemy, death. 

While we should honor both our veterans and our Lord everyday of our lives, the setting apart of these special days allows us to take a pause from our hectic lives and reflect on the high price of our national liberties and the liberty we experience with God through the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. 

The current political and cultural divide in the United States and other parts of our world stems from how one defines liberty.  Those coming from a liberal progressive socialist philosophy view liberty as those things granted to an individual through government action.  These individuals view the rights granted in the Bill of Rights in the U.S. constitution (1) as a list of things granted to them by their government.  These individuals feel threatened when someone is elected to office threatening to curtail something like free health care, free education, or any other government granted entitlement through the cutting of taxes or repeals of legislation granting them some government entitlement.  It is this belief in what constitutes liberty that is behind much of the Trump bashing we now see in our culture. 

Those coming from a conservative, free market philosophy view liberty as God given rights granted to everyone by God their creator and view the role of government as a limited one of defending these rights.  These individuals view the Bill of Rights as a list of limits placed upon government preventing it from removing the liberties of individuals.  These individuals feel threatened when someone is elected to office vowing larger government promising to further intrude in their lives. 

When we read the Declaration of Independence, (2) we soon discover that its authors favored a smaller less intrusive government and after fighting a long war to gain independence from England, formed a Republic whose powers were limited by the U.S. Constitution.  (1)  The reason for their adoption of this philosophy was because they had suffered under the tyranny of oppression by big government and had no desire to return to it.  Unfortunately, 241 plus years later, we are beginning to see the United States becoming a tyrannical government despite the protections offered by its Constitution. 

The voters in the United States for the most part do not want to return to a tyranny and is why they voted for Donald Trump in 2016.  One of the main issues in the 2016 election was the repeal of Obamacare representing governments intervention in individual’s health care.  The recent developments in the U.K. surrounding the case of 10-month old Charlie Gard demonstrates what can occur when government is in control of health care decisions because they pay for them.  (3)  Former Vice-Presidential candidate and Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin was criticized for her mention of death panels during the debate over passage of Obamacare (4) but the recent developments in the UK are proof that more government involvement in health care decisions can result in government deciding who lives and dies.

Many have died to preserve the liberties of the United States throughout its history.  Each of these men and women swore to uphold the Constitution of the United States which is based upon the philosophy of the Declaration of Independence believing in the God given right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Let us not dishonor these individuals by voting for greater government intervention that could evolve into government deciding who has the right to live. 

1. constitutionus.com. The Constitution of the United States. constitutionus.com. [Online] [Cited: January 21, 2017.] http://constitutionus.com/.

2. ushistory.org. The Declaration of Independence. www.ushistory.org. [Online] [Cited: October 30, 2016.] http://www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/.

3. Walsh, Matt. Courts in Europe have sentenced a baby to death. This is socialized medicine. www.theblaze.com. [Online] The Blaze, June 28, 2017. [Cited: July 8, 2017.] http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/matt-walsh-courts-in-europe-have-sentenced-a-baby-to-death-this-is-socialized-medicine/.

4. Cosman, Ben. 'Death Panels' Will Be Sarah Palin's Greatest Legacy. www.theatlantic.com. [Online] The Atlantic, May 30, 2014. [Cited: July 8, 2017.] https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/05/death-panels-will-be-sarah-palins-greatest-legacy/371888/.