I called a friend of mine yesterday, a naturalized American born and raised in the Soviet Union. An unusual person, in every respect, and her husband too, vo vsekh otnosheniyakh. I had found her at home only because she had returned briefly, before returning to the place she was staying at by the sea, y lukomor'ya, to find her copy of the Declaration of Independence. She would be returning with it, she said, to the same place from the tiny second floor balcony of which she would, as on Independence Days past, read out the Declaration of Independence, "to the wildly cheering crowds below."
Now ask yourself if you can imagine a Buddhist from Vietnam, now an American citizen, doing the same. You can. And ask yourself if you can imagine someone raised as a Hindu, now an American citizen, doing the same. You can. And ask yourself if you can imagine all kinds of people -- Francis Bok from the Sudan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali from Somalia (next year, in Washington), Ali Sina from Iran, Ibn Warraq from Pakistan, Wafa Sultan from Jordan, all doing the same thing, or at least joining in. And you can.
And now try to do the following. Try to imagine a member of CAIR, or anyone who claims not only to be a Muslim (and some do it out of habit, out of filial piety, out of fear of social ostracism or worse, even though they are nothing more than "Muslim-for-identification-purposes-only" Muslims), but to believe in what Muslims are taught to believe. For they are taught to believe that the source of legitimacy of any government lies not in the people, which is what the Declaration of Independence declares, but in the will or whim of Allah. And that will is expressed in the Qur'an, and through that most important figure, Muhammad, in the Hadith. And they are taught that men are to be slaves of Allah, not free men. And they are taught that the collective of Believers, the umma al-islamiyya, is what matters, and to which Muslims must owe their sole loyalty, and certainly not to an Infidel nation-state.
When not fussily moving the coals around at a barbecue, and wondering if you correctly counted the paper plates ahead of time, and whether or not a thunderstorm will cut short the fireworks tonight, or make getting home from them a drenching prospect, consider the Founders, and their mental makeup, and that of all the others who created the United States from the earliest days, to the present. And then consider the cloud of knowing, in the minds of the unwary and ignorant, the too-ungrateful or too-uncomprehending recipients of that legacy, and how that cloud of unknowing threatens storms that will put out not only fireworks, but what those fireworks are intended to celebrate. Food, and not merely Fourth-of-July barbecue food, for thought.
But right now let's go on over, with the ghosts of Peter Zenger and Learned Hand and Alexander Meiklejohn and Alexander Bickel and for that matter, Leo Rosten (author of a book about immigrants learning English at a night school), and stand imaginatively looking up at Tatiana on that balcony, as she reads with feeling the Declaration of Independence, and you are free to join those "wildly cheering crowds" in their cheers and their tears and their heartfelt aplodismenty.
This may be wrong, as this online service is free and sometimes unreliable, but I placed "aplodismenty" into my new-fangled obscurantistspeak online translation engine and this came out: Aplodismenty: The sensation of disappointment which arises when someone deliberately douses the fireworks just at the moment they're supposed to be lit.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. The love of life, liberty and private property is an acquired virtue/habit, one that Islam and Communism reject in favor of their false and despicable "religions" of envy and violence.
Happy Independence Day!
D. Ox
http://thomistic.blogspot.com/2006/07/life-liberty-property-versus-islam-and.html
Hugh, there can be little doubt that your points in this article should be ringing around Congress itself, if not today, tomorrow or the day after that. I do not understand how we are supposed to all be expected to sit back and accept Sharia Law being a part of Americana. It is a crime against this country that Islam is every protected while it works steadfastly towards usurping the American Dream.
This continued blindness by our own government will eventually be met with anger, obstinance and reactionary votes. I hope the "political animals" are prepared to reap the rewards of cowardice, inaction and ignorance.
Hugh, as always, shows up with pictoral prose and a new word for us.
You, my fellow countrymen, make me proud to say that I'm American.
Never at any one time before or since have so many farsighted and superbly intellegent individuals come together to write the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution. It is unfortunate in this time of such great danger, but that confluence of intellect was so improbable that it will never, ever happen again.
I can imagine Hugh's scenario, because it happened repeatedly when I was taking Russian. The emigre students who agreed to help us with our verbs and accents absolutely refused to go anywhere from 6:30 till 7 each night. It was the time to watch the nightly news, and they all wanted to see what was happening. Without fail, if anyone critized the U.S. or its government in any way, an outbreak of really interesting Russian would break out - the kind our textbooks forgot to teach us. They did not tolerate any criticism of their adopted country and would never miss an opportunity to praise President Reagan loudly with much waving of hands.
That seemed a bit extreme to me at 19, but it's a wonderful memory now. As is the mental image I still have of them at a Seattle Mariners baseball game. Not only did they stand for the national anthem, they sang, loudly, and with tears pouring. Those people and their parents didn't have an easy time learning the language and finding good jobs, but they didn't bring the sense of entitlement either, only a deep appreciation for their new home.
Thanks, Hugh, for a wonderful article as usual.
And don't forget old Button "Duelist" Gwinnett!
Best name on the document that guaranteed our inborns liberties would have a fighting chance.
The First Amendment is The Mouth.
The Second, The Teeth.
Happy 4th, all!
Hugh,
You need to write a treatise(s) similar to those that Thomas Paine wrote to impel the colonists to the cause. You make the most compelling aguments for the sake of continued freedom. The rest of us should distribute it far and wide, both electronically and in print if necessary.
A moving post and an idea: that in addition to our fireworks and outdoor festivities, the Declaration of Independence should be read by the oldest person present, while everyone else listened.
I'll bet many homeschooled children know it by heart. That's the only place kids are still memorizing the important things.
Dymphna:
Every year I attend a 4th of July party where exactly that is done. Followed by the "Our Father."
Join us next year. Wine and pork are openly displayed.
Cordially
Robert Spencer
Second the above poster. Thank, Hugh, for this sweet post. Today, there is very little Jihad here in Arkansas, but much firewords and assorted fun. God bless America.
Is this the first time the lovely "Hugh" has graced the front page, all on his own? Usually his posts come in under the auspices of Mr. Spencer.
I'll bet many homeschooled children know it by heart. That's the only place kids are still memorizing the important things.
Dymphna, thanks for the nod. Yes, my boys along with their homeschooled friends still memorize the important things.
http://patriotfiles.org/Pledge.htm
Audio. Turn your speakers up. Have your hankies at the ready.