Written by Erin Grant
After a long slumber, America is beginning to stir. Enormous tax hikes, healthcare “reform” efforts and the more recent “job czar” news, as well as Obama’s speech to school children across the nation, have undeniably been the most recent wake-up calls. Americans have found themselves in a frightening position, realizing how truly close we are to socialization and have begun to rise up against these measures that would ultimately and permanently remove many of the freedoms we have enjoyed.
Shortly after Obama’s election, he began a series of measures in Congress that impressed upon Americans a sum total of taxes that was more than all the past presidents combined. Numbers escalated into the trillions. This quickly incited protests across the nation in the form of rallies, or “Tea Parties,” to try to bring these measures to a halt. Despite public dissension to his plans, Obama quickly moved forward, intensely pushing for a universal healthcare system similar to those of Canada, the European Union, Australia and many other nations across the world.
This aroused even more protests as U.S. senators returned home in attempts to “persuade” the people toward the healthcare system and found themselves instead amid angry citizens demanding answers and votes against the proposed bills.
Afterward, cries rose up against Obama’s appointment of Van Jones as the new “green job czar” due to his unconcealed communist leanings and past associations with radical groups. Jones later resigned this position due to public pressure.
Now, it is Obama’s speech to schoolchildren across America, that has led many parents to further demonstrate their disapproval and keep their children at home, saying they do not want Obama “indoctrinating” their family while they are most vulnerable to outside influences.
These examples should all give us something to think about. Undoubtedly, we are witnessing a battle. It is not yet a physical battle, but one of wills and worldviews.
After a long period of dormancy, the American pot is beginning to simmer at this threat of unprecedented governmental power. To reference a well-known phrase, the sleeping giant is once again beginning to awaken. We have realized the danger to our freedoms and are now fighting to retain them. Let us not cease to stand up for our liberties. Let us not again become complacent.
Our situation truly relates to an old and familiar story: If you take a frog and place it in a pot of boiling water, it will immediately struggle to escape the searing heat. However, if you place it in a pot of cold water and gradually turn up the temperature, it will not notice each small but threatening change in its environment. The heat, slowly growing to unbearable levels, will eventually overwhelm and kill it. However, by the time it realizes the danger, it will already be too late.
Pray that the same does not happen to us. We sit in a pot of water, and slowly the heat has risen. A little jolt, perhaps too quick a movement, has caused a noticeable rise in temperature, and we have begun to stir. But we cannot allow ourselves to settle back into complacency.
Speak out for your liberties; they are precious, unique and not easily regained. Write, call or email your senators and representatives, and urge them to stand up against threats to our freedom. Begin an intelligent blog. Talk with your neighbors. Join your fellow citizens in organized rallies.
Overall, become more knowledgeable concerning current issues, and know where you stand on these issues and why. But do not do nothing. If we again become complacent, too comfortable with the issues confronting us as a nation, then like the frog, we may unknowingly boil ourselves to death.
