Saw this the other day and it is a wonderful take. This clearly delineates that false arguments that the left is making today. Prove me wrong.
“About the Declaration there is a finality that is exceedingly restful. It is often asserted that the world has made a great deal of progress since 1776, that we have had new thoughts and new experiences which have given us a great advance over the people of that day, and that we may therefore very well discard their conclusions for something more modern. But that reasoning can not be applied to this great charter. If all men are created equal, that is final. If they are endowed with inalienable rights, that is final. If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final. No advance, no progress can be made beyond these propositions. If anyone wishes to deny their truth or their soundness, the only direction in which he can proceed historically is not forward, but backward toward the time when there was no equality, no rights of the individual, no rule of the people. Those who wish to proceed in that direction can not lay claim to progress. They are reactionary. Their ideas are not more modern, but more ancient, than those of the Revolutionary fathers…
“The Declaration of Independence is the product of the spiritual insight of the people. We live in an age of science and of abounding accumulation of material things. These did not create our Declaration. Our Declaration created them. The things of the spirit come first. Unless we cling to that, all our material prosperity, overwhelming though it may appear, will turn to a barren sceptre in our grasp. If we are to maintain the great heritage which has been bequeathed to us, we must be like-minded as the fathers who created it. We must not sink into a pagan materialism. We must cultivate the reverence which they had for the things that are holy. We must follow the spiritual and moral leadership which they showed. We must keep replenished, that they may glow with a more compelling flame, the altar fires before which they worshiped.” — Calvin Coolidge’s Speech on the 150th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence
As I read this I just assumed this was something written recently and was wondering who the author was. Well said, he may have been known as Silent Cal but he said a mouthful there. Some of the comments were eye-opening.
(08-25-2020 12:55 PM)NIUAlum90 Wrote: No one is going to refute the argument above?
Refute it?
I bring some form of the first paragraph into conversations with my kids all the time. Freedom isn't free. Without the 2nd, the rest don't matter. We hold these truths to be self-evident, you know THE THING! etc.
They get a tad upset when presented with some of these thoughts or ideas as absolutes, but at least it gets them thinking. Post-Parkland they were both in the "But we have to do something" crowd. I said, yea, we need a marked car and an armed Cop in every school and/school building". They both howled NOOOO, no cops in schools!!! we need to take away those guns! I replied So, now you two trust the Gov't? Trust them to protect you in school when they're not there, and not abuse that power elsewhere, because you can't protect yourself?
They both looked at each other and got very quiet.
(This post was last modified: 08-25-2020 04:10 PM by JMUDunk.)
(08-25-2020 01:36 PM)king king Wrote: Ain't no refuting this.
Good, then all of the left nonsense needs to go away. Poof.
No reason to "peaceful protest". If they don't want to abide under this system, then they should move to where the worker utopia is then.
Good riddance.
Don't tear up my house because you don't like my sofa cushion!
They don't need a reason to peacefully protest. It's anyone's right and I encourage the lawful use of it at all times.
I agree with your last paragraph and that is where the line gets blurred in my opinion. Are there folks out there, scores and scores of them, that ARE peacefully protesting? Yes. Are there others, a minority despite their numbers, fomenting anarchy? Yes. That would be enough for ME to stop protesting if I see my "cause" has been appropriated for nefarious purposes, however, some may find that they believe I'm their "cause" so much that they turn a blind eye to certain things.
Turning a blind eye seems to be something folks on both sides do.
(08-25-2020 11:13 AM)NIUAlum90 Wrote: If governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed, that is final.
Can't really argue with anything in here...
I've edited this out because this is where 'progressives' argue their point.
They mistake the right to make a decision today based on today's information and specifics and a different decision tomorrow based on tomorrow's information and specifics as 'consent' to the former, ignoring that it comes at the expense of the latter.
This ability to choose and to make different decisions is the fundamental core of freedom.
