Land of the Free

“Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation”—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease, and war itself.” — John F. Kennedy, Inaugural Address

America has always been considered the “land of the free.” It’s been whispered and shouted from basement to rooftop for 240 years; from our most cherished Declaration of Independence to The Constitution, we look to them to protect us from harm, engrave our rights on paper without subterfuge and welcome all of human-kind to the land where the people established the longest lasting democracy in all of history.

I’ve always believed to hold history, especially America’s, in my mind and soul.

I write this entry to shout that America continues to ignore our reality since Columbine, especially with Friday’s tearful loss of the most innocent of all, no matter the intentions of one to destroy what we hold most dear. This continues with an accelerated rate then barely a memory of those who suffered the greatest loss. Within those tears of loss, I deeply believe we have hope for what can be in the light of the past, present and future of all — hope for those who treasure freedom from tyranny no matter the literal borders or the ones that surface to fuel the strongest emotional opinions.

Even when our hope for America and all persons bleeds our hearts, testing our strength to survive, we can look to the past to show our own endurance for what can be, not what is or appears to be. For those 240 years, America has been a country of laws and prosperity that millions far from our shores have risked what little they had and their own lives merely to arrive at our shores.

With future hope and past realization, we must confess the truth of our history to admit what we did and still continue to do. The collective few of those in power unfortunately and most tragically felt it was within their authority to deny rights and protections that they were supposedly sworn to protect and defend. They pronounced their “majority” status, which was not only absolutely unacceptable to completely unfounded and wrong. Whether by votes under the round rotunda, ones pronounced within an oval office or an unelected, black-robed few that can dissolve discrimination set by some “majority,” our America, I think, will protect our safety and rights. I wish our past didn’t show that it’s taken 240 years to eventually guard and protect our safety not only from countries abroad to a terrorist group both outside and within to economic disaster to those who will murder pure innocence without mind or remorse using weapons of complete destruction of life.

I have to admit that even I missed the mark on this tragic reality, thinking that despite my most passionate debates and opinions regarding laws and The Constitution, I allowed myself to sit-down for the unfortunate reality that could substantially be prevented just because a group within our country defined our 2nd Amendment as an absolute one while others were limited to protect the “rights of the many” over the “rights of one.” Our government is entrusted and defined to its core, to protect us…from anything. That protection has consistently evolved in 240 years as democracy spreads and terrorism seeks to destroy.

My rights have been limited from speech to gathering collectively to due process to equal protection from those that wish to subvert mine; now, to protect me from those that commit terror, my rights have been limited to protect the many. I can’t shout “fire” without cause in a crowded theater. I can’t organize a protest without limit and a permit. I can’t legally get married without a license, let alone at all. I can’t give money to those that wish to do us harm. I can’t have absolute privacy with the possibility I might be engaging in activity the government either denies or ones it knows could harm others. My rights are our rights.

These limitations have evolved almost exclusively to not deny our individual rights, but to protect the many. These limitations affect every American; but some laws blatantly ignore equal protection of all laws that then discriminates against of few.

Looking back at history and coming to terms with our new reality, leaves us to ensure the safety and most of all, the protection of everyone, even from those with unlimited firearms that take away a life instantly; the right of one to possess unlimited weapons of absolute war, completely and absolutely ignores our rights to life and the protection of many.

Our beacon of light and that eternal flame dims with such a cold wave of violence that if we begin to lose hope for our America, then those who’ve looked to us for inspiration, hope and braved the ocean’s waves, could go so faint that even it can’t offer hope.

It is my unwavering wish now more than ever that my country and my land of the free will not only protect me from a group that would kill thousands or millions but from one with absolutely unlimited weapons that will destroy and kill mine, my family’s and another’s life, liberty and happiness.