Yet in the early democracies, as in the American democracy at the time of its birth, all individual human rights were granted on the ground that man is God’s creature. That is, freedom was given to the individual conditionally, in the assumption of his constant religious responsibility.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Think this through for a minute. Freedom is dependent on religion. More specifically, only a moral people could handle the obligations that freedom imposes. Freedom, as the saying goes, is not free. It draws from a higher touchstone, a higher good. Lose that touchstone and freedom is forsaken \u2013 often in the name of another freedom that is in fact slavery.<\/p>\n

I love America because at its founding, in that cauldron of hardship and sacrifice that forged the narrative that would shape its future, something precious was held that needs to be rediscovered in order to be preserved: Man was created to be free.<\/p>\n

In this era of materialist fantasy, where ideologies are as numerous as cereal brands in the grocery store all of which promise a road to the man-made Eden, the claim that man is created to be free is too often heard in the same terms. Accepting all religions as equal is the same as accepting none at all, and as man’s religious responsibility is redefined solely in terms of private sentiment, the awareness of the public dimension of our responsibility grows increasingly dim and the path to freedom is lost.<\/p>\n

Don’t think this really matters? At one time it mattered a great deal. In the last century all (yes, all<\/em>) of the great refugee movements were to shores of America. Yes, imperfect America was a beacon of hope to millions. To some it still is.<\/p>\n