Where Has All The Honor Gone?
by Brent Johnson
"...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."
These are the concluding words to the Declaration of Independence, America's founding document which embodies the principles of what it means to be an American - that you get your rights from God and no government can ever take them away.
The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence knew that by doing so they had committed an act of treason against the British crown. These were British citizens who openly defied British law as it was then written, to create for themselves and future generations a land where each individual could rise as high as he wished, achieve as much as he desired through hard work and commitment, and where the people were supreme rulers over the government.
Prior to 1776 the concept of a country in which the people ruled the government, could own their own property and had unalienable rights which the government could never take away, was unheard of. After the Declaration of Independence, the 56 signers were persecuted by the British. Their property was stolen; their families were tortured and in some cases murdered; many who had been wealthy lost everything they valued - except for their freedom.
Why did these brave men pursue a course which would inevitably lead them into a state of ruin? It was a matter of honor. Knowing they were committing treason, they pledged their lives, fortunes, and "sacred honor." Preserving freedom was the honorable thing to do so they did it, regardless of the resulting consequences. Their spirit of honor is directly responsible for the freedom of each and every American, yesterday and today. But what about tomorrow?
America was formed by people who considered it a matter of honor to stand up and fight for what they believed in. These men (and the women who supported them) were prepared to die for their beliefs. They would sooner lose their worldly possessions than surrender to the forces desiring their servitude. Their lives were dedicated to the noble goal of securing freedom for themselves, their families, and countless generations who were to follow. Their foundation was one of honor.
Today the concept of honor has all but disappeared from the American way of life. Everywhere you look you find the most important thing has become making money, achieving status, and striving for what others have defined as success. It matters not if you lie, cheat, steal on your way up, so long as you get there. Many career politicians and corporate executives have acquired their positions through deception and outright lies. The President of the United States - regarded as one of the most powerful men in the world - has spent the last four years lying, cheating and stealing. He is the subject of a civil suit for sexual abuse. He is at least involved in several financial scandals. Almost 100 people who have had direct business dealings with President Clinton have mysteriously died. There is strong evidence to connect Mr. Clinton with brutal murders, and drug trafficking. None of it matters. Most Americans don't care; often you will hear someone say that "everybody does it," as if that makes it okay.
What has happened to right and wrong? In America today, everybody is considered to be right; nothing anyone does is wrong. There is always a reason, an excuse, a justification for behavior which by any moral or ethical standard is characterized as wrong. A woman deliberately sends her car, occupied with her two baby children, into a river in South Carolina, killing her children. The children are heard to be screaming for their lives before they finally die. What a gruesome way to die, murdered horribly by your own mother. What do the courts say? The woman is guilty but she does not receive the death penalty; instead, she goes to jail for life (maybe), at the expense of the American people! Is it right for law abiding Americans to pay to sustain the life of a vicious murderess?
American society has become so accepting of everyone and everything - the new age principle of never making anyone wrong for anything has taken hold. Well, who said this is right? We are told that criminals commit crimes because they had a difficult and possibly abusive childhood. I'll accept that as possibly true, but does it relieve the individual of responsibility for his or her actions? I think not. I experienced many things in my childhood which could be labeled as abuse. Nevertheless, I grew up to be an honorable, law abiding Citizen who cherishes life, truth, and freedom. So it can be done.
Where is the honor in releasing violent criminals because of a procedural mistake? Where is the honor in incarcerating Americans based solely on anonymous tips, without the benefit of trial by jury and sometimes without any charges being levied? Where is the honor in achieving financial freedom by lying, cheating and stealing? Where is the honor in stealing an American's property - his life's work - because he happens to live on land which the government has decided is habitat to an endangered species?
In medieval times nothing was more important than a sense of honor. If you did something dishonorable - lied, cheated, stole - you were branded for life as one without honor. You received little or no respect from your peers. You were regarded as an outcast. In Biblical times if you stepped from the path of honor - either to the right or to the left - you had sinned and were subject to punishment, even death.
Today there seems to be a distinct lack of honor. Our children are growing up with little or no respect for life, which is why so many senseless murders are committed. And for what reason? Money, power, position, status. What about honor?
If we are to return America to her greatness we must restore a sense of honor to her children. This means that each of us must set the example of what it means to be honorable, to tell the truth, to keep your word. We must teach our children the difference between what is right and what is wrong. We must reclaim our country from the hands of the depraved, who would turn us into a modern day Babylon. In order to re-establish a sense of honor in America we should all ask ourselves, "Would I be proud to tell my family what I did today?" Your answer reflects your sense of honor.
It is no wonder that America has become the target for so many; we are called imperialist, which our government's actions support as true. We are called the world's policemen, which is true. We are accused of trying to impose our system of government on the rest of the world, which our government is most certainly attempting to do. Foreigners marvel at how sheep-like Americans have become, allowing the federal and State governments to dictate to them how they shall live. We are told we require permits for everything.
The sad thing is, if we had any honor within ourselves as individuals, we would not hesitate to tell the government to take a hike. We would stop cooperating, even under threat of imprisonment, because our sense of honor would demand us to do so. Our God-given rights are far more important and valuable than obeying the rules and regulations set down by the elected dictator William Clinton and his minions, or the so-called Judiciary, or the unlawfully sitting Congress.
America was founded by rebels and revolutionaries who believed in something greater than Wall Street and the Federal Reserve System. America was founded by people who believed that patriotism was more than blind obedience to government; patriotism was adherence to a code of honor, regardless of the local laws and statutes. America was founded by people who believed there was a God, and that each of us has rights because we are children of God.
Pity the poor, wretched, timid soul who is too faint-hearted to resist his oppressors. He has the intellect of a slave. He sings the song of the damned: "I can't fight back, I have too much to lose; I own too much property; I have worked too hard to get what I have; They will put me out of business if I resist; I might go to jail; I have my family to think about." Such poor miserable creatures have misplaced values and are hiding their cowardice behind pretended family responsibilities - blindly refusing to see that the most glorious legacy that one can bequeath to posterity is liberty. And that the only true security is liberty.
What posterity will you leave to your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren?
Beginning today, try something new. As you proceed through your day of work, school or whatever, ask yourself periodically, "Would I be proud to tell my family what I did today?" Let your honest answer be your guide to action. Help us restore America to a land of honor.
"...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."
These are the concluding words to the Declaration of Independence, America's founding document which embodies the principles of what it means to be an American - that you get your rights from God and no government can ever take them away.
The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence knew that by doing so they had committed an act of treason against the British crown. These were British citizens who openly defied British law as it was then written, to create for themselves and future generations a land where each individual could rise as high as he wished, achieve as much as he desired through hard work and commitment, and where the people were supreme rulers over the government.
Prior to 1776 the concept of a country in which the people ruled the government, could own their own property and had unalienable rights which the government could never take away, was unheard of. After the Declaration of Independence, the 56 signers were persecuted by the British. Their property was stolen; their families were tortured and in some cases murdered; many who had been wealthy lost everything they valued - except for their freedom.
Why did these brave men pursue a course which would inevitably lead them into a state of ruin? It was a matter of honor. Knowing they were committing treason, they pledged their lives, fortunes, and "sacred honor." Preserving freedom was the honorable thing to do so they did it, regardless of the resulting consequences. Their spirit of honor is directly responsible for the freedom of each and every American, yesterday and today. But what about tomorrow?
America was formed by people who considered it a matter of honor to stand up and fight for what they believed in. These men (and the women who supported them) were prepared to die for their beliefs. They would sooner lose their worldly possessions than surrender to the forces desiring their servitude. Their lives were dedicated to the noble goal of securing freedom for themselves, their families, and countless generations who were to follow. Their foundation was one of honor.
Today the concept of honor has all but disappeared from the American way of life. Everywhere you look you find the most important thing has become making money, achieving status, and striving for what others have defined as success. It matters not if you lie, cheat, steal on your way up, so long as you get there. Many career politicians and corporate executives have acquired their positions through deception and outright lies. The President of the United States - regarded as one of the most powerful men in the world - has spent the last four years lying, cheating and stealing. He is the subject of a civil suit for sexual abuse. He is at least involved in several financial scandals. Almost 100 people who have had direct business dealings with President Clinton have mysteriously died. There is strong evidence to connect Mr. Clinton with brutal murders, and drug trafficking. None of it matters. Most Americans don't care; often you will hear someone say that "everybody does it," as if that makes it okay.
What has happened to right and wrong? In America today, everybody is considered to be right; nothing anyone does is wrong. There is always a reason, an excuse, a justification for behavior which by any moral or ethical standard is characterized as wrong. A woman deliberately sends her car, occupied with her two baby children, into a river in South Carolina, killing her children. The children are heard to be screaming for their lives before they finally die. What a gruesome way to die, murdered horribly by your own mother. What do the courts say? The woman is guilty but she does not receive the death penalty; instead, she goes to jail for life (maybe), at the expense of the American people! Is it right for law abiding Americans to pay to sustain the life of a vicious murderess?
American society has become so accepting of everyone and everything - the new age principle of never making anyone wrong for anything has taken hold. Well, who said this is right? We are told that criminals commit crimes because they had a difficult and possibly abusive childhood. I'll accept that as possibly true, but does it relieve the individual of responsibility for his or her actions? I think not. I experienced many things in my childhood which could be labeled as abuse. Nevertheless, I grew up to be an honorable, law abiding Citizen who cherishes life, truth, and freedom. So it can be done.
Where is the honor in releasing violent criminals because of a procedural mistake? Where is the honor in incarcerating Americans based solely on anonymous tips, without the benefit of trial by jury and sometimes without any charges being levied? Where is the honor in achieving financial freedom by lying, cheating and stealing? Where is the honor in stealing an American's property - his life's work - because he happens to live on land which the government has decided is habitat to an endangered species?
In medieval times nothing was more important than a sense of honor. If you did something dishonorable - lied, cheated, stole - you were branded for life as one without honor. You received little or no respect from your peers. You were regarded as an outcast. In Biblical times if you stepped from the path of honor - either to the right or to the left - you had sinned and were subject to punishment, even death.
Today there seems to be a distinct lack of honor. Our children are growing up with little or no respect for life, which is why so many senseless murders are committed. And for what reason? Money, power, position, status. What about honor?
If we are to return America to her greatness we must restore a sense of honor to her children. This means that each of us must set the example of what it means to be honorable, to tell the truth, to keep your word. We must teach our children the difference between what is right and what is wrong. We must reclaim our country from the hands of the depraved, who would turn us into a modern day Babylon. In order to re-establish a sense of honor in America we should all ask ourselves, "Would I be proud to tell my family what I did today?" Your answer reflects your sense of honor.
It is no wonder that America has become the target for so many; we are called imperialist, which our government's actions support as true. We are called the world's policemen, which is true. We are accused of trying to impose our system of government on the rest of the world, which our government is most certainly attempting to do. Foreigners marvel at how sheep-like Americans have become, allowing the federal and State governments to dictate to them how they shall live. We are told we require permits for everything.
The sad thing is, if we had any honor within ourselves as individuals, we would not hesitate to tell the government to take a hike. We would stop cooperating, even under threat of imprisonment, because our sense of honor would demand us to do so. Our God-given rights are far more important and valuable than obeying the rules and regulations set down by the elected dictator William Clinton and his minions, or the so-called Judiciary, or the unlawfully sitting Congress.
America was founded by rebels and revolutionaries who believed in something greater than Wall Street and the Federal Reserve System. America was founded by people who believed that patriotism was more than blind obedience to government; patriotism was adherence to a code of honor, regardless of the local laws and statutes. America was founded by people who believed there was a God, and that each of us has rights because we are children of God.
Pity the poor, wretched, timid soul who is too faint-hearted to resist his oppressors. He has the intellect of a slave. He sings the song of the damned: "I can't fight back, I have too much to lose; I own too much property; I have worked too hard to get what I have; They will put me out of business if I resist; I might go to jail; I have my family to think about." Such poor miserable creatures have misplaced values and are hiding their cowardice behind pretended family responsibilities - blindly refusing to see that the most glorious legacy that one can bequeath to posterity is liberty. And that the only true security is liberty.
What posterity will you leave to your children, your grandchildren, your great grandchildren?
Beginning today, try something new. As you proceed through your day of work, school or whatever, ask yourself periodically, "Would I be proud to tell my family what I did today?" Let your honest answer be your guide to action. Help us restore America to a land of honor.
