Liberty

May 22

I am thankful for the liberty that our country was founded on. Liberty is the freedom of individuals to have control over their actions. The US constitution, the Bills of Rights, and the courts give individuals certain freedoms such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to privacy.

This photo was taken on the Louisiana state capitol grounds. The bell is an identical replica of the original Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, but without the crack. The original was made in France by the Whitechapel Foundry. It cracked on its first ring. It was recast by Pass and Stow in Philadelphia, but that one cracked also. The replica in Baton Rouge is one of 53 also cast by Whitechapel Foundry in France in 1950. Like the original it has the biblical verse from Leviticus as one of its inscriptions: "Proclaim liberty through all the land unto all inhabitants hereof." This replica, like the Philadelphia version is inscribed with "PASS AND STOW" for the re-cast version in Philadelphia.

On my visit to the state capitol I was moved by all the inscriptions, the statues, and bas reliefs, as well as this Liberty Bell, which all reiterated the basic concept that government is for the people and determined by the people. In other words, government is to serve the people. I remember being impressed about this on my first visit to Washington D.C. when I was only ten years old. In our Declaration of Independence it was stated:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Lincoln summed it up very well in his Gettysburg Address:

...government of the people, for the people, and by the people shall not perish from the earth.

In these times, it is especially important that we remember these principles. Government is for the people and by the people, not the other way around. When the government lies to its people or is invasive of people's privacy, there is something very wrong and we need to get back to our roots. I'm off my soapbox now.

This poem may be stupid, but it isn't the first time and definitely not the last:

liberty bell

there was once a girl

with the name of liberty bell

people spoke of her

very often and well

people would come from far

to listen to her sing

although her voice at first cracked

it would forever with sweetness ring

she sang for presidents

she sang for the masses

and sang for the common man

and the working classes

though sometimes muffled

she sings still today

liberty bell sings the sweetest song

please sing, they still say.

© rt tulley