Why is freedom important???

J

Judge Blackhawk

New member
Why is freedom important? Why should we care whether we are free people?

What is freedom anyway, can anyone here tell me what freedom is? Or how it functions in our daily lives?

Do our lives revolve around freedom? No they do not. Why is that? It is because we are free people, that freedom is not a daily concern for us.

It is only the slave or oppressed person that has a daily concern of freedom. The slave longs for freedom because he does not have it. His entire existance and every fiber of his body desires freedom. Freedom is his Holy Grail, his plato of existence, and his reason for believing that one day, with God's help he shall be free.

Freedom is not the concern of the free person, because it is not important. Freedom is simply there, it always has been and always will be there?

Or will it... The funny thing about freedom is that it is never missed or desired, until it is taken away.

Let me give you a real life example, if you will allow me.

First, I was born with a genetic bone disease and after long years of suffering, I had my both my legs removed below the knee. I was fitted with artifical limbs and have had a wonderful life since then. I have attended college, law school and had a successful law practice and now I am (Thank God) a prosecutor for the State of Texas.

It was not until recently that I reflected on my legs or lack thereof. I have a son who is now Eight (8) years old and a daughter four (4) years old. Both love me very much, but the other day, they wanted me to play football with them. I tried to explain that there Daddy could not play football because of my bone problem and my artificial legs.

My son then asked me, dont I miss playing football? And honestly I can say that I dont miss it. Because you see, I have never played football in my life and really have never missed not doing so. I have desired to play football with my friends, but could never partake in the athelitic sports arena. My legs were never strong enough to allow this activity. Although I wanted to try, I was unable to experience what sports felt like, either to win or loose.

One of my best friends,who was very athletic, lost his right leg in an auto/motorcycle accident and he was devastated. He could not understand how I could adjust so easily to the loss of not one but both of my legs.

Well the difference between he and I, is simple. He had two good God given legs to enjoy and experience football and sports. I on the other hand, was given by God two bad legs which could neither support my body or provide me with the pleasure of playing sports. Therefore, I could not really miss, what I did not have. My friend on the other hand, experienced a great loss of his self esteem when he lost his leg.

My friend never gave his legs a second thought, he never worried about them not being there for him. He took them from granted because they were always there for him to enjoy and experience. When he lost one, he was devastated and dejected. He was depressed, lonely and dispondant. He thought of suicide, because he felt he was less of a man without his leg.

It is the same with freedom. It is taken for granted, and looked at as something that has always been there and always will be there. My friend always told me, that he felt so sorry for me, because of my legs, and he did not understand how I could be so comfortable being handicapped. I told him, it is something you must be born to, to understand.

I without good legs, am like the man who is born without the taste of freedom, he does not know what freedom is and therefore can not really miss it. He can long for it, and wish to experience it, but until he does taste it, he will not know how sweet it really is.

My friend, is like the man who looses his freedom. He knows what freedom tastes like, he has felt its warmth upon his soul, and now with freedom taken from him, his life is much less livable.

The taste of freedom is so sweet and delicious, that it has a way of dulling ones senses and making people feel to comfortable and safe. This safety is a false sense of security, it is a blanket of deceit that can cost freedom in the end.

If we are to keep freedom alive, we must understand the awful truth of its departure. We must understand the we are free because we are able to stand up against tyranny and we have the ability to defend our freedom.

What have all our brave men and women been fighting for through out our countries history, if not for FREEDOM. Name one cause, one issue that is worth dying for, and it will be FREEDOM. Nothing else matters, without freedom, life itself becomes nothing more than a prison for soul.

Ask yourself if freedom is our birthright, our destiny, our reason for being Americans. I believe the answer is a resounding YES. What other country offers so much, to so many? If every other country is so great without freedom, then why doesnt every other country have a waiting list to get in to its borders.

If America is anything, she is freedom, she is hope, she is our only future. Without freedom, there is no America in the United States, there is only government for the government and by the government.

I pray to our Heavenly Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ for guidance, love, and courage. May all the Saints protect us. And God Bless the United States of AMERICA. May forever she stand for Freedom.

Sincerely,
Your friend and patriot

Judge Blackhawk
 
Judge,
That was a very eloquent post, and I am deeply moved. Your passion comes beaming through your words like a searchlight pierces the fog. Your analogy about Freedom’s roots with respect to your legs hits the nail on the head. Too often we find ourselves looking back at the past and longing for something lost… like our freedoms.

People who think we live in a free country are living in a fantasy. We may be MORE free than the rest of the world, but we have certainly fallen far from the ideal society our Founding Fathers hoped to create.

Every minute of every day some smug control freak dreams up a new way to screw us, and cleverly disguises it in a package that is easily swallowed by the average unthinking boob. The media gleefully helps to sell our rights down the river for these “activists”, all for the good of themselves. Bashing their opponents is the accepted way to advance this creeping tyranny. It’s all very sick.

However, I am filled with the optimism that only Liberty’s torch can provide. Good will always prevail in the end, and in my opinion we are very near the end indeed. I believe WE as a Free people have been pushed just about as far as we can go without action. If these smug oppressors in Washington think they’ve got us on the run because the latest ABC poll says so, they better look again...

There’s a silent revolution raging in millions of us right now, and lists are being compiled. Not by government dupes, but by freedom loving people who keep a low profile. People who don’t respond to “polls”. Who quietly oil the tools of Liberty in hopes that the day may come when they may rain hot lead in their tormentor’s direction. This is the silent majority, and there are millions, upon millions, upon millions of us.

This November election will be pivotal for a temporary change, but our fate is already decided. We will always be free, or we will die trying. Of that I am sure.

Regards in Liberty,
SM


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"When evil wins in the world, it is only by the default of the good. That is why one man of reason and moral stature is more important actually and potentially, than a million fools". -Ayn Rand
 
Freedom is the corollary of reason. If people accept the force of argument as the best way to solve their problems with others, they must ultimately reject the argument of force. About 90% of the State as we understand it today would evaporate through disuse if people recognized the primacy of reason.

Our Founding Fathers presumed logical, rational, moral people would populate our country, and thus had very little use for the state.


Judge, in a truly free society you'd occasionally be called in to work at your part time job. As things stand, I'd bet a dollar against a dime that you're rather overworked right now.

The trouble is that freedom is oppression to a lunatic. Freedom is problematic, at best, to someone who denies reality and the only way to make sense of it: reason.

This is why socialists, occultists, euphoric religionists, and lots of other folk who want to hijack the government are so against reason and logic as "Western Prejudices," intolerant of "alternative realities" and other such muddle-mouthed noise, protesting the "intolerance" of the fact that 2+2 always makes 4.

This way they can gradually drive everyone insane, so Big Brother can take care of everyone in the Therapeutic State.
 
Judge,

Read my signature. I think H.L. Mencken hit it right on the head.

Most people will choose some form of secure servitude to freedom. A few will truly relish freedom, and they'll pay a price in a Democratic Society.



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"Put a rifle in the hands of a Subject, and he immediately becomes a Citizen." -- Jeff Cooper

"The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth. He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty - and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies." -- H.L. Mencken, February 12, 1923, Baltimore Evening Sun

"If God had not wanted them to be sheared, he would not have made them sheep." -- Bad guy from the Magnificent Seven.

"Don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blow." -- Bob Dylan
 
H.L. Mencken can speak for himself.
The Jeffersonian ideal was a nation of autonomous people: economically self sufficient, relating to their fellows only on the basis of mutual advantage: in short, free.

Such an existence requires calculated risk. It is not a gamble, but there is no guarantee. Things happen. The ability to recover from a disaster and prevail over it is the mark of the free.

People always dislike unpleasant consequences, yet the laws of cause and effect are immutable. There's no such thing as a free lunch. Those who seek escape from this fact are unfit for self-government.
 
Great post Judge.

I believe it was Ben Franklin who said:

"Those who would trade liberty for safety deserve neither."

"Freedom is accompanied by inherent risks, and infinite rewards." (CMOS 5-16-00)

CMOS

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NRA? Good. Now joing the GOA!
 
Munro,

Yeah, that's a great ideal. But can you imagine what would happen if the all corporations that feed at the gubmint trough, the little old blue haired ladies, the economically dependent welfare-for-life types, and all those millions of beaurocrats, were all suddenly cut loose from the government teat? The f----ing bleating would never stop!!

We can't go back and most people, as Mencken noted, WOULD NOT go back. Sheeple like the "safety net," even if they get snagged by it. Gubmint nonsense pisses me off to no end, but the reality is most people couldn't imagine life where they were unregulated and unsupported. It would blow their little minds.

There's a reason you don't hear Republicans talking about shrinking government anymore. There's too many die-hard voters at the public trough, and they know it.
 
Jack,
As I mentioned in a comment to Mr. Kocher, "maybe if those of us who don't believe in Santa Claus were to just withdraw, the entire mess would collapse under its own weight."

Yes, indeedy, I read RLK a lot. Reading his stuff is like getting a doctorate level course in psychology.
 
Judge, that's as concise an analogy as I've seen in a long, long time. With your permission, I'd like to forward it to friends.

Thank you.

Dick
 
Seems to me the most difficult to understand about freedom is that it must be shared. Ideas as restricting the other fellows freedoms with/by legislation can only result eventually in the loss of all freedoms for everyone. Due process in a proper court of law is the way to temporarily disable a citizens Rights (freedom).

Judge Blackhawk, thank you for your post. I would like to ask a question or two. Are you a real judge? If so do you practice and believe in the current court procedure of exempting jury nullification? Any comment on the subject is appreciated.

IMO the jury is to stand between a citizen and injustice. Injustice of an unconstitutional law or the unjust application of the law. The jury has the duty and responsibility to judge the facts of a case as well as the law. Otherwise, the true purpose of the jury is moot in serving justice and there is no need of a jury.
 
Monkey you have my persmission to send it to your friends. I would be honored for you to do so.

To answer the questions, well I was a real baby judge (municipal court) for a while, I am a practicing attorney, and have been an attorney for the past 11 years. I am now a prosecutor for the Great State of Texas.

As for as jury nulification. When I was a defense attorney, I used it quite effectively without using it. My question to the jury panel was "How many people trust the government?" I dont remember any hands coming up. This is an effective tool in the defense of wrongfully accused people. However, it is sad to say, that I did not represent many that were of that ilk. I have had my share of innocent accused and by the Grace of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the juries all found those pitiful souls not guilty. Tears flowed from my eyes and the juries eyes when the verdict was read.

Do I have faith in the jury system? Not really anymore, Mark Twain said that (I apologize for not having the direct quote) The jury system is flawed because it takes 12 men/women who can neither read or write and puts them to decide complex legal matters.

The jury system at one time was very well designed, when you had to be land owner and had a stake in the community. The jury pool was from mostly educated men (no I am not sexist that is the way it was) and they saw their duty as jury members as an honorable one. With great importance and with great dignity.

Today, we get jury pools from I.D.'s and Driver license records. We send out 150 jury summons and only 40 people show up. This is sad state of affairs indeed.

Our country asks only two types of service from it's citizens (I am not getting into the tax question) and those are Military Service and Jury Service. Of the two, Military service is the most honorable and my loved and most cherished, in my humble opinion. Then comes jury service. Jury service is vital to a free people. There is nothing else on Earth that compares to our jury system.

The people on jury duty are not treated well by the system as I have seen it. They are herded like cattle, giving complex legal mombo jumbo and told to decide guilty or not guilty. They are moved around and actually kept from knowing anything, but expected to know it all. This is sad.

Do I think juries should be able to nullify a law? We under our current system, probably not, because I dont think we have suffistocated enough juries to know when a defense attorney (like my former self) was pulling the wool over their eyes.

Do I want the jury systme abolished. Absolutely not.

Do we need more educated people on the jury? YES we need more educated people period.

Do we need people with common sense on the jury, you bet your life we do. We need common sense people in all walks of life.

Juries nullify laws everyday, it is just not called that, it is called NOT GUILTY.

Most juries, can sift through the State's bullS#!t and and the defense attorney's smoke and mirrors. But would I bet my life on this principle????? NOT NO BUT HELL NO.

I would hate to think that my life was being judged by 12 people who were not smart enough to get out of jury service. I did not come up with this but I sure wish I had.

Juries are supposed to be the last link in the chain for the accused citizen. It was at one time, the Government feared juries and respected them. Today, the Government looks at juries as a hinderance and annoyance. So do the defense attorney that feel juries can not be fair, impartial and do justice in todays society.

What is the answer to solving the jury problems. ONE ANSWER EDUCATION, MORALS, ETHICS, AND A STROND SENSE OF GOD, CHURCH AND FAMILY.

We can not fix the present day problems with all of our belly aching and preaching. If it were that easy, I would have this old world ship shape right now.

We need to understand that over the past 30 years, there has been a dumbing down of the standards of education, in the name of promoting those children who can not keep up, because we dont want to stigmitize them. We have had the destruction of the American familiy unit. The neutering of the American Male. The mascusizing of the American Female. The blurring of the lines of right and wrong. The destruction of the individual. The absolute removal of our Lord and Savior from all aspects of society. And last but not least the absolute abolishing of thinking for oneself.

So with all these problems facing Americans today, how can we say the jury system would not be affected by such diabolical methods of America's destruction.

I am not sure if the cycle can be broken and the tracks of freedom be re-laid into the future. The engine pulling the train that is America, has precious little fuel left. The train is growing larger, but no one is willing to give her fuel to pull the great weight of Freedom and Liberty.


Am I alone in my voice for freedom? Do I speak out of turn? Should I quietly go into the past and be glad for what once was America?

My Country, my home, my AMERICA. God Bless her and each and every one of her citizens. My God our Father forgive for wasting what He has granted. May He continue to have faith in US-A.

Godbless you all and thank you for your kind words. My heart is over joyed that America still breaths with patriots to carry her into the new millenium.

Judge Blackhawk

P.S. I am sorry I am so long winded, but my passion is not easily contained in a few words.
 
Judge B.,

You said, "I would hate to think that my life was being judged by 12 people who were not smart enough to get out of jury service."

How about those that ARE smart enough to recognize their duty and obligation and avoid being culled during the "stacking."

Anyone can get out of jury duty. Just show that you understand the true responsibility of being a juror. The dificulty, as I understand it, is concealing that knowledge through the entire "stacking" process and the trial. And even then, not to reveal it during the deliberation, lest one or more of the sheep you are corraled with begins to bleat about your insubordination to the judges instructions to judge only on the evidence presented, and not the merit of the law the accused "broke."

A very tough situation, for sure. One I hope to have a chance at.

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John/az
"When freedom is at stake, your silence is not golden, it's yellow..." RKBA!
www.cphv.com
 
Judge Blackhawk, thank you and no matter how my posts seem, I wish you and every person in the world, Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness and especially every American because that is American's Law (Constitution). I am not so sure about the meaning of we are lacking in education? By saying we need more education I think the general perception is more money into federally controlled schools of indoctrination, oops education. The people in elected office are of the highest, or very close to level with the highest, indoctrination of all citizens. How many common sense hicks serve in elected office today?

IMO opinion the razzle dazzle of our current statutes (laws, for the hicks) are designed that way on purpose to confuse. The best example known by every American is the unconstitutional tax code, is there one, anyone, who correctly understands that law? I say law rather than statute because there is an Amendment to the Constitution allowing an "income" tax. However, the current use of Amendment XVI is unconstitutional. Simply because, if for no other reason, the Constitution does not authorize the federal government to manipulate every citizen and business in America with a tax code. Such is not the purpose of a constitutional federal government. Who else but supposedly educated people are destroying America the Republic with/by unconstitutional statutes and actions (enforcing unconstitutional statutes)? It is obvious to me so called educated people believe they have a license to steal from and imprison their fellow citizen. Yes, I am aware of some good works but evil prevails.

In this Republic citizens have only three powers over government and they are the vote, jury duty and the gun. And in citizenship the education needed beyond basics is simply a working knowledge of the Constitution. For most mere mortals that requires about five years of study. To become expert on the Constitution requires closer to twenty five years study. Evidently that education is not in existence in federally controlled indoctrination schools.

Also quite evident is the fact of how easily citizens without a proper knowledge of the Constitution are mislead. MMM is a great example of the constitutionally ignorant leading the charge to hell on earth. Political parties come in a close second. Or maybe that is third with TV political news media coming in second.

Rather than an all out war with guns I advocate voting third party. At least no third party candidate has enacted, or helped enact, unconstitutional legislation.
 
Someone said to me once that only about 1/3 of people appreciate freedom. And, this stands because only 1/3 of people supported the American revolt against Britain.

Most people don't need freedom to live just fine, and they like that safety net of the gov't.

Mainly, true warriors NEED freedom and cannot handle anything less.

Most of us can live daily and not come upon direct oppression. But when it happens, it sucks.
People who think ahead, always feel this perceived oppression, even though it is not a daily event, it is a feeling.

Freedom is a feeling. The minute I cross from Kalifornia to Arizona and I strap on my gun, the air seems lighter and crisper and I feel just free.
It is not the gun, it is the ideal. It is the entire law system, the entire way the gov't operates and how they view me as a citizen in ALL the laws, not just gun laws. Suddenly all those laws that I know exist in Kali are lifted from me. Physically these laws may never be enforced against me, but I always feel them looming.

My young sister asked once why I worry about government intrusions. She said "I don't understand....if you live your life normally and don't do anything weird, then the government will never bother you". (the answers to this could be vast, including "what is wierd?").
I replied "that is fine, until the one day that it is YOU that is getting beaten down by the gov't. It may take years, but when it happens, you will feel the force of oppression. You may build up a business and have the IRS come in a close you down, or force you to pay a huge tax unfairly, to which you are helpless to fight".

I used this recent example: she had gotten a parking ticket unfairly. The court said that she could pay the $25 fine, or she could go into court and pay the $35 court fee to fight the ticket! The gov't was extorting money from her like any common thug.

Freedom, day to day, is an ideal, a feeling. You don't physically feel oppression until you cross paths with the gov't but you feel the looming oppression every day in your gut.

That is what freedom is to me, in a nutshell. I realize it ain't too eloquent or heart warming, but that's what it is to me, and that feeling of being free is worth dying for.
 
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