Patriot

For our nation's 233rd birthday, after spending the first half of the day participating in the traditional food and friends, we drove an hour to the closest Tea Party. Unlike the tax day Tea Party I attended, this gathering was less about making noise and more about celebrating our country and first amendment rights. It was also about education and motivation. And to let the powers that be know we are still serious. Those in attendance, about 1,000 people from what I can estimate, gathered together--many in lawn chairs--and listened to speakers, including radio show hosts, a veteran, a doctor, a political organizer, and even an African American talk show host (yes, tea parties are not racist like they're accused of) for about an hour.

First time protestors: Cameron and Tyler.

Even Tyler, whom I think I had to convince to come with me so far, agreed it was something that felt right to be doing on such a special date as Independence Day. We agreed that its meaning has been lost over the years and decided our family would be sure to give the holiday its due respect and honor in the future as well.


The speakers were inspiring and I must say for me patriotism comes from the same place as faith. ("...according to the Spirit of God, which is also the spirit of freedom which is in them." Alma 61:15) They talked and educated about current catastrophic bills being pushed through Congress such as Cap and Trade and Universal Health Care. But what especially got to me was how they talked about how freedom is not free and how many people have died for it and how fragile it is. Everyone has heard these words, but I really understood them with renewed awe that day. I looked around me to see that by and large Tyler and I were the youngest protesters there. My sister said her experience was the same. We were surrounded by war veterans and middle aged men and women, some in their 30s at the youngest; people our parents' and grandparents' age. (Seriously, enlarge the above picture and find someone young.) These are wise and experienced ones of our society! These are the people who really understand the price of freedom and what works and what doesn't. These people have learned much from experience and aren't so easily distracted. It should scream a warning to us that these protests are full of our elders instead of college students as is usually the case. Clearly ambivalence and accepting and destructive SILENCE is increasingly becoming something we cannot afford.

So can I please continue to beg that those of my generation put down their iphones and ipods, stop twittering, texting, and facebooking for an hour a day and please make an effort to be educated and informed? Spend 10 minutes a day or an hour a week brushing up on politics and world events from reliable sources--the internet makes it especially easy--and I promise that within a month you will sense what these society elders clearly sense. Use your abundant intelligence to piece things together, think analytically and ask questions. And take action. All of us no matter our station or schedule can do something.

I will spare you my theories, but suffice it to say something is not right and your freedom is at stake and in danger of being pulled out from under you without your notice and without a noise. And it will be done by those "secret combinations" and "Gadianton robbers," aka. people from within the existing framework who want power and money and will get it at your expense. (See my sidebar for more on my analysis of secret combinations today.) And if I am wrong, as I hope I am, it is no waste to be educated and informed.