Let’s Revisit Virtuous Liberty’s Fragility
A Patriot’s legitimate inquiry, “How can any concept as mighty and forceful, be so fragile and susceptible to mischief, trifling and assault?” Millions have sacrificed and died for the cause of Virtuous Liberty. “Give me liberty or give me death!” Patrick Henry cried out before the Second Virginia Convention in 1775. This concept of individual Virtuous Liberty, according to John Stuart Mill’s “On Liberty,” began with ancient Greece and Rome, proceeding to England. In the past, Liberty meant primarily protection from tyranny. Our Framers hoped for more. It proved to be a gigantic leap forward, that only God foresaw, and superintended with what Washington termed, “Finger of Providence.”
Our second President John Adams, understood that Virtuous Liberty, under law, was essential for this grand experiment to endure. He was persuaded to write a book, in 1787, “A Defense of the Constitution of the United States,” by his old adversary, later friend, Thomas Jefferson. Adams had no exaggerated opinion of the wisdom and virtue by the mass of mortals. Knowing that, perhaps more than anyone, he kept the American one of laws, not men. We are benefactors of such wisdom.
Sadly, Adams isn’t widely read these days. It’s to Hamilton that most turn when seeking a liberty-minded soul among our Founders. Samuel Adams is even more obscure. Some still hold that the best of Federalism, it was John Adams that held great sway in its perpetuation. Adams understood that genuine virtuous liberty must be anchored in law and virtue, not aristocrats or political elites-though some thought he an elite.
Adams didn’t argue that men don’t possess moral motions, which is God-given. However, he understood, like Madison, they aren’t angels. It’s notable that Adams used the word “liberty” less frequently than many men of his day. Not because he valued it less than those of his era. In his book “Defence” it appears his concern was that human weakness would confound liberty as a license, thus produce “licentious Liberty.” Adams preferred the concept of virtue driving Liberty. He didn’t believe the first excluded the second. On the contrary, enduring Liberty is the child of Virtue. Without Virtue, liberty is unanchored, he feared. HIs stern warning for checking legislative “ambition” echoed Madison’s Federalist 51 on separations of powers.
Many are familiar with Madison’s quote, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.” Samuel Adams believed liberty is more than a proclamation, but heroic efforts by a few brave souls, who love of Virtuous Liberty is interwoven within their soul. Adams, like Edmund Burke, understood that genuine Virtuous Liberty is understood by a minority, going as far as to say that the masses are indifferent to it-not unlike 2024. Still, many Christians in particular, think America has lost its grasp on the Divine Nature of Virtuous Liberty that our Founders understood.
There’s no shortage of “Liberty talk” to this day. However, Adams believed Patriotic citizens must be compelled to understand Virtuous Liberty is like a delicate plant, that even the watering it with the blood of martyrs is a dubious nutriment. He knew that Virtuous Liberty must be under the law. There’s no satisfactory alternative or substitute. Virtuous Liberty without law, endures about as long as a lamb among wolves. Even civil laws are insufficient to safeguard Virtuous Liberty. Freedom is that eternal longing that dwells in the bosom of all, and Virtuous Liberty is the external exercise of that longing.
In 1798, John Adams wrote, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Therefore, without virtuous and moral leaders, liberty will not endure—just as Samuel Adams warned. As we elect leaders and political figures who dismiss virtue and moral courage as prerequisites to run for office, Liberty is severely diminished, eroded, and eventually evanesces. Like Rome, our Republic decays at the core.
What are major threats to Virtuous Liberty today? From Benjamin Franklin’s memoirs, this quote reminds us of our quest for Virtuous Liberty, “They who give up essential liberty to obtain temporary safety deserve neither liberty or safety.” For us, it was COVID-19 that revealed vulnerable chinks in our armor. Within three months of the Wuhan virus, nearly every state in the union, citizens surrendered most liberties without a whimper with the notable exception of South Dakota.
Obeying the rouge CDC, state and local unelected health officials, citizens behaved like dutiful masked robots. For example, in 2020 Casper’s, Yellowstone Garage owner, John Huff, was threatened with arrest by Caper Police Chief for allowing customers to eat inside violating COVID restrictions. How does Marx’s grim nightmare appear once again as a dream to many? Have we exchanged the nobility of Virtuous Liberty for the ignoble mirage of security?
Most dangerous to one’s individual Virtuous Liberty is that ubiquitous interloper-apathy. December 15, 2023, marked the 232nd anniversary of the ratification of the First Ten Amendments-Bill of Rights, 1791. For the masses, it went unnoticed. Celebration of our First Ten Amendment should’ve been a unifying factor for all Americans. Apathy, it appears, won the day with rare exceptions. Some argue we’ve taken Virtuous Liberty for granted.
Contrary to popular opinion, Virtuous Liberty isn’t self-perpetuating. It requires a force. We at Libertysplaceforyouwy.com understand the physics of Liberty. For a $50 annual donation, please join us in fanning the flames of Virtuous Liberty, while staying abreast of our activities and how you can claim your place with us in this noble cause.
Failure to inculcate into our offsprings with the Truth of individual Freedom and Virtuous Liberty has predictable and disastrous consequences that are displayed in this culture of lawlessness. Those verities are worth fighting for and celebrating. And, when required, sacrificing one’s life because others attempt to destroy what God Himself created for us to enjoy, extol and perpetuate.
We’ve paid a high price for failure to do so. Christian fervor is indispensable to fanning the flames of Virtuous Liberty. It’s not happenstance that radical activists are obliterating our First and Second Amendments with powerful and well-funded political lobbyists like LGBTQ, pro-choice, anti-gun, and anti-Israel advocates. We’ve witnessed such influence in Cheyenne at the 67th Legislature bringing monetary corruption to bought-and-paid-for political scoundrels that feast upon our dollars unapologetically.
Regarding Virtuous Liberty, devastating is our failure to recognize a malevolent coalition of fear and cowardice. History informs us that the former, unchecked, often turns into the latter. In Wyoming, fear of a roaming grizzly is understandable and wise. Cowardice of marauders attacking one’s family or Christian Heritage isn’t. The ruling impulse of tyranny won’t be thwarted by dormancy, denial, or dereliction of duty.
Patriots, we’ll need more common mortals flawed—but resolute for action. Symbolically, Captain America’s first public appearance was months before America’s entry into the Second World War. Average boy turned super-hero took on Hitler. However, one needn’t be a super-hero to join Libetysplaceforyouwy.com as we stir the caldron of individual Virtuous Liberty under God in Natrona County and beyond. This battle is eternal. All leaves are cancelled. We need you. God’s Word and the Constitution are our bedrock for our comportment and challenges ahead. Are you with us fellow Patriots?
Mike Pyatt is President/Co-Founder of libertysplaceforyouwy.com. His email is mikepyatt44@gmail.com
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