The Declaration of Independence

People, denied their right to liberty, banded together and declared themselves independent of the greatest empire in the world. It wasn't a declaration based on selfishness or desire for power. They weren't thinking 'it's my way or the highway' in regards to British rule. They were not being defiant to the king as a teenager is to their parent. The founders of the United States were motivated by humanity. They were not perfect, nor was their revolutionary approach perfect. They were doing something that none of them had ever done before. They were framing a new government and country. We can sit back in the comfort of our private homes 234 years later and say what they did wrong through our 2010 lens, but if we do, we do so without justice. We do not know the full context of the era in which they lived. What we do know is what they wrote, but even then it isn't a perfectly accurate picture of life in those times. It is impossible for us to divorce ourselves from our current standards and norms. We can see that they were not power seekers. They wrote the declaration out of "decent respect to the opinions of mankind," not exactly the language I would expect from war-loving conquerors. The Declaration of Independence was an expression of grief by an abused population which inadvertently set forth a model for what human rights are. By defining what treatment from a governing body was unacceptable, the Declaration established what a list of rights ought to consist of.
To anyone who thinks this document no longer applies to governance in our day I say we need this document now as much as ever. The same goes for the Constitution, which is obviously written in attempt to right the injustices outlined in the Declaration. Personal liberty and responsibility was the desired goal of the founders, not total control and absolute power, which seems to be the case in (all of) our government today. The final sentence from the Declaration: "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor."
This pledge ought to be hoisted on banners throughout our country and across the earth. Whether directed to king George or to tyranny in general the Declaration is a standard for "unalienable rights" for all. It is time for another American Revolution. The enemy is not a tyrannical government, though some might argue it is. The enemy is not amassed in uniforms on a battle field, though that type of enemy is available if we seek it. This time the enemy is each citizen of this country, ourselves included. We who have become complacent with the liberties and freedom we have been divinely blessed with, we are our own enemies. We are constantly presented with choices. Some might think they can choose not to choose, but this isn't the case. When the choice is liberty or captivity, there is no neutral ground. Either you choose liberty or you don't. I want to choose liberty.

Read the Declaration of Independence here:
http://www.usacitylink.com/usa/declaration.html