July 4th

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
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July 4th… freedom… freedom from tyranny, freedom from persecution, freedom from abuses.

The reason those freedoms have worked so long in the USA is simply Jesus Christ. We live in a country that was built upon the blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors… people who knew what it meant to be treated as if they were less than human but knew through the saving blood of Jesus that they were, indeed, worthy. It was with the Creator standing behind them that they dared to stand before a mighty king and his military force.

Celebrate the freedoms of our country today, but remember the Creator of those freedoms every day of the year.