"A toast? Yeah. To high treason. That's what these men were committing when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and-Oh! Oh, my personal favorite: and had their entrails cut out and burned... So... Here's to the men who did what was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right... "
Gates' quote from this scene in National Treasure is spot-on-accurate... the signers of the declaration were, indeed, committing high treason. They risked everything to do what was considered wrong in order to do what they knew was right.
And, without getting too deep into the historical and political perspective of the events surrounding the American Revolution, it is fair to say that ever since these founding fathers were dead and gone, our government has systematically set about to defend itself against the very thing on which this Republic was founded: freedom...
if you don't believe that, then tell me this: can you envision a group of rebels like the ones whose names appear at the bottom of the Declaration doing what they did.... today? It seems to me it would be nearly impossible to do today what those brave men did over two centuries ago... it's at least a bit ironic, right? ...that our government has intentionally made it so that nobody else could ever 'do' what these guys 'did'... Anyhow, perhaps a discussion for another blog....
But there are parallels between that revolution and the one which Jesus and his band of 'rebels' incited over 2o centuries ago... and the resultant wall-building which we 'religious people' have done to prevent another such revolution is eerily reminiscent of the barriers our politicians have erected over the last 230 years.
I mean, let's face it: anytime anyone has suggested it's time to overhaul our American government (again, a subject for another time), he is branded as unpatriotic and marginalized as a trouble-maker. As a result, most people are relegated to sitting on the sidelines, complaining about the wasteful spending and freedom-sucking legislation which has become the norm from our government... well, that's not the way those 56 courageous declaration-signers behaved...
Similarly, anytime anyone suggests it is time we overhaul our 'religion', they are looked upon as divisive and branded as heretics... as a result, most of us are relegated to sitting on the sidelines and complaining about the leadership of our church... we even change our language: we say 'they' and 'them', instead of 'we' and 'us'... yet that's not the way Jesus and his ragtag band of followers behaved.
Incidentally, anytime we change our language to 'they' and 'them', we are lazily abdicating our responsibility to engage and forge necessary change... you see, 'religion' (like government) was never intended to be a spectator sport. I implore us all to maintain the healthy language of 'we' and 'us'...
So we must take an example from Thomas Jefferson and his 55 friends... we have to imitate Jesus and his followers! We cannot allow 'them' (whoever 'they' are) to steal the freedom God gave us and Jesus died for....
It will take courage. We will be vilified. But we cannot, must not be bullied into submission by anyone who endeavors to build their own walls around 'their' kingdom...
Another Ben Gates quote from 'National Treasure' goes something like this:
"Of all the ideas that became the United States, there's a line here that's at the heart of all the others. 'But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and provide new Guards for their future security.' That means that those who have the ability to defend freedom have the responsibility to defend freedom..."
Think about that: does that sound like the description of a spectator sport to you? I would submit that our Christianity is much the same... and if we sit idly by and watch as our Freedom is stolen, we probably deserve the result....
May God Bless us as we always defend the freedom for which He sacrificed His Son!
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