The Most Magical Place On Earth

I would like to introduce Taegan, our newest Liberty First intern. She describes herself as:

The Most Magical Place on Earth

by Taegan James

You know where I’m talking about: Walt Disney World. As a kid, I never had the opportunity to go there. It seems like everyone I meet, who is my age, went to Disney as a child. Whenever I tell someone that I’ve never been there, I get one of two responses: a look of disbelief and horror, or one of sympathy. After spending a week in Idaho, Liberty First is now in Florida for a few days; more specifically, Orlando. Well today I got to go to Disney World!!! Just kidding, but we did go to Disney Springs, which is the next best thing. It may not have been Magic Kingdom, but this place was pretty magical. There are cute little shops, exotic restaurants, and some pretty amazing sights to see. During my time at Disney Springs, we went to Sosa Family Cigars, ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe (which is inside a volcano), stopped at the Lego store, found some souvenirs at World of Disney, and savored a Mickey Mouse cake pop from the Candy Cauldron. I may have never been to the real Walt Disney World, but this counts, right? Some people I know, have been to Disney World so many times that it no longer seems like a magical place, and they take its beauty and charm for granted. Maybe they just need to remember how blessed they are to be there, and rediscover all the things that make Walt Disney World worth their time and energy.

There is another place that is pretty magical as well: America. Now it may not seem that way with the current state of our union, but we do live in a pretty unique, and blessed country. We have the freedom to practice, or not to practice, whichever religion we can best reconcile with our conscience. That is fairly unique quality to America. As a nation, “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” (Declaration of Independence). We believe in these principles because the United States of America was founded on the Judeo-Christian worldview; the ONLY worldview that maintains the equality and liberty of all men. Many may say that we are a “Christian” nation, but that is simply not true. We are not now, and were not intended to be. That would make our government a theocracy, and theocracy in the hands of men always degenerates into tyranny. Americans have the complete freedom to serve, or not to serve, God in whatever way they please; so long as they do not take away or infringe upon the lives and liberties of others. That means, EVERY religion is allowed in this country as long as its followers are upholding the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance of it.

There are so many people in this nation who take our liberties and freedoms for granted. Whether they abuse, ignore, or are simply unaware of their liberties, that is failing to use our God-given rights to their fullest potential. I heard from KrisAnne that a Supreme Court Justice here in Florida conducted a poll on the First Amendment. He found that only 2% of the people polled could name all five liberties protected in the First Amendment. That is a shocking statistic. KrisAnne conducts this poll in many of her classes as well. When many of the people find they do not know all five either, she asks, “If you do not even know what your liberties are, how do you know that they are not already gone?” If you don’t know your rights, then you most likely are not exercising them. If you are not exercising them, they are being taken for granted and are the rights that will not exist for the future generations of America. We have become so “pacified in prosperity, lazy in luxury, and complacent and compliant in comfort,” that we no longer care if we are giving up our liberties in the name of security (KrisAnne Hall, lecture). This is like someone who has gone to Disney World so many times that they don’t care if they ever step a foot in there again. But how many people would jump at the opportunity to go to Epcot, Universal Studies, or Magic Kingdom? I know I would. How many MORE people world-wide would do anything just to live in a country where they have the freedom of conscience? The freedom of speech? The freedom to worship whoever and however the want? The right to a trial by jury? Or how about this, even the simple freedom of voting. You see, there are billions of people who do not have these freedoms in their countries. As Americans, we take all of these liberties for granted at some point, or even every day. Sure, every four years (or two if you’re a stellar citizen) we cast a ballot and think that’s enough to fulfill our civic duty. But the fight to preserve and defend liberty is not something you do once every two or four years, it is something you must do every day. We do live in a very special nation, but it may not be the magical land of free for long. It’s about time we wake up, give ourselves an attitude adjustment, be thankful for the blessings we have, and start taking advantage of them.

Pursuing truth and defending liberty, always.

-A Devoted Patriot