As we celebrate the Fourth
of July today, joining in the
“Happy 197th Anniversary!”
atmosphere of the Freedom
Festival here in Provo, all of
us would do well to give some
thoughtful consideration to
perpetuating the firmness of
resolve that accompanied the
signing of the Delcaration of
Independence in 1776.
Suppose the drafters of the
Declaration had neglected to
add this paragraph to their
document:
“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.”
Without such a resolve – in
the Declaration but more
importantly in the minds and
hearts of the men and women
whose cherished .goal was
freedom – it is doubtful if an
effective revolution could
have been carried out.
But, of course, the delegates
to the Continental Congress of
1776 added that final
paragraph, stuck their necks
under the shadow of King
George’s hangman, and set to
work to make their fine vision
an accomplished fact.
Nearly two centuries have
passed since that hot summer
day in Philadelphia. That
historic bit of parchment,
faded and scarred, is still a
part of mid-twentieth century
America. Sometimes,
however, we seem to act as
though we would like to forget
about the acts and deeds of the
men which gave meaning to
the Delcaration.
Too often we have a
tendency to assume that once
we have made the right sort of
speeches and passed the
proper kind of resolutions,
nothing more needs to be done.
A few examples: Within the
last few years, Americans
innumerable have voiced
ringing declarations about the
irony of permitting poverty to
exist in a land of unrivaled
plenty; about the need to wipe
out city slums; about the folly
of allowing Americans to kill
themselves on the highways;
about the necessity to
preserve our natural environ-
ment; about the unalienable
right of all people to freedom,
justice, and opportunity.
But are we doing enough to
translate these declarations
into fact? We have talked and
resolved and deplored and
condemned – and the targets
of our resolving and
condemning still loom large
and frightening.
We could take a hint from
the men of 1776. They spoke
their minds about the iniquity
of tyranny – and then, with
their own hands, and with
forthrightness and courage –
they went out and delivered
themselves from it.
So They Say
The United States is being
defeated all over the world but
has not been taught the final
lesson. We tell America in a
loud voice that it needs a
severe blow in the face from
the Arabs.
-Libyan strongman
Col. Moammar Khadafy,
. announcing the
nationalization of an
American oil company.
Let me tell you something
that we Israelis have against
Moses. He took us 40 years
through the desert in order to
bring us to the one spot in the
Middle East that has no oil.
-Premier Golda Meir.