As I’ve witnessed our country cowering before a virus, to the point of surrendering our freedoms and subjugating ourselves to our government, I’ve been reminded of the words of Elmer Davis, the late American journalist. Davis once said, “This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.”
Few Americans realize today that there is no greater threat to our constitutional republic than our own cowardice. As history has repeatedly proven, a cowardly people are never a free people. Freedom can only be possessed by the brave, who are willing to fight to the death for it, never by the cowardly, who can be easily frightened into forfeiting their freedom over their fear of death.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “A society that will give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.” Another of our Founding Fathers credited with a famous quote is Patrick Henry. Unfortunately, Henry’s oft repeated quote is seldom repeated in context, despite the fact today’s cowering America desperately needs to hear it in context. In his passionate appeal to the Second Virginia Convention to take up arms and fight for liberty, Patrick Henry said the following words on March 23, 1775 at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia.
“Gentlemen may cry, 'Peace, peace but there is no peace.' The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.”
Where are the Patrick Henry’s in today’s America, those willing to forfeit their lives before their liberty? While we may have a severe shortage of them in the US, they’re suddenly showing up all over the place in Ukraine. For instance, yesterday, our government offered to evacuate Ukrainian President Zelenskyy from Kyiv, his nation’s capital. With his nation under Russian invasion and he himself number one on Vladimir Putin’s hit list, Zelenskyy bravely responded to our government’s offer to remove him from harm’s way by saying, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” While he may have been a comedian before becoming president, Zelenskyy is certainly no joke as president. At the same time, I fear America is becoming a joke and Americans a laughingstock for cowardly surrendering our liberties over fear for our lives.