{"id":245018,"date":"2024-07-02T04:36:47","date_gmt":"2024-07-02T08:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/?p=245018"},"modified":"2024-07-02T05:54:14","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T09:54:14","slug":"more-than-fireworks-on-the-fourth-a-call-to-cherish-protect-and-preserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/more-than-fireworks-on-the-fourth-a-call-to-cherish-protect-and-preserve","title":{"rendered":"More than fireworks on the Fourth: A call to cherish, protect, and preserve"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In 1820, decades after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/founding-docs\/declaration-transcript\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">declaring<\/a> the self-evident truth that life and liberty are Creator-endowed, Thomas Jefferson wrote to an English historian, \u201cHere we are not afraid to follow truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now two centuries on and counting, are we still unafraid to follow and defend our founding truths? Do we even remember the Creator who endowed us with our unalienable rights? Abraham Lincoln\u2019s lament during the darkest days of the Civil War seems targeted to us also.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>We have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>But in our case, it is more than mere amnesia. In one of the most audacious attacks ever on our founding principles, some among us are actively seeking to erase our history and undermine our sacred rights\u2014as noted by the <a href=\"https:\/\/2017-2021.state.gov\/report-of-the-commission-on-unalienable-rights\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/2017-2021.state.gov\/commission-on-unalienable-rights\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Commission on Unalienable Rights<\/a> in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Comprised of such luminaries as Ambassador Mary Ann Glendon of Harvard, Professor Paolo Carozza of Notre Dame, Dr. Peter Berkowitz of Stanford, and Rabbi Dr. Meir Soloveichik of Yeshiva University, the Commission decried the political agenda in America and beyond that \u201cdevalues core rights, and denies rights in the name of rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mark Levin&nbsp;has called it a \u201ccounterrevolution to the American Revolution,\u201d and warned that \u201cit is devouring our society and culture, swirling around our everyday lives, and ubiquitous in our politics, schools, media, and entertainment.\u201d We cannot afford to stand idly by, says Levin. \u201cWe must rise to the challenge, as did our Founding Fathers, when they confronted the most powerful force on earth, the British Empire, and defeated it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, the Founders\u2019 Declaration must become <em>our<\/em> Declaration. \u201cIt is not a parchment to take out once a year,\u201d urged historian Henry Steele Commager, but \u201cis vital and immediate. It argues a case that is still valid and announces principles that are still true. It still calls upon us to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our honor to their vindication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Elder Matthew S. Holland, \u201cWith this country, there is entrusted to each generation a sacred charge: to cherish the hallowed inheritance of our liberties and steward those liberties for all generations to come.\u201d And what if, heaven forbid, we should fail to fulfill that sacred charge? Said Ronald Reagan, &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn\u2019t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and children\u2019s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Declaration is vital and immediate, and still calls us to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":245033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"The Declaration is vital and immediate, and still calls us to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.","format":"standard","video":"","gallery":"","source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"2","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar-narrow","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"float","share_float_style":"share-normal","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"0","show_popup_post":"0","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"0","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-715","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-715"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"511","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[804,511,805],"tags":[4131,6681,4551,689,11214,648],"class_list":["post-245018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-culture","category-foreground","tag-declaration-of-independence","tag-family-values","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-human-rights","tag-thomas-jefferson","tag-usa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>More than fireworks on the Fourth: A call to cherish, protect, and preserve - IFN<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Declaration is vital and immediate, and still calls us to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/more-than-fireworks-on-the-fourth-a-call-to-cherish-protect-and-preserve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"More than fireworks on the Fourth: A call to cherish, protect, and preserve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Declaration is vital and immediate, and still calls us to pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/more-than-fireworks-on-the-fourth-a-call-to-cherish-protect-and-preserve\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"IFN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/iFamNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-07-02T08:36:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-07-02T09:54:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/fireworks_independence_day.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"E. 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Douglas Clark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f01991614cc9086457280e0279d7da9c1c6dd2774eca1bf16e9e24005c6feb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/4f01991614cc9086457280e0279d7da9c1c6dd2774eca1bf16e9e24005c6feb0?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"E. Douglas Clark"},"description":"E. Douglas Clark is an attorney and Director of UN and International Policy at the International Organization for the Family. For two decades Doug has been on the forefront of defending the family at the United Nations as a lobbyist and strategist, leading teams and consulting with policymakers in New York and around the world. His writings include the World Family Declaration and articles in The Natural Family: An International Journal of Research and Policy and Ave Maria International Law Journal. After earning MBA and JD degrees from Brigham Young University, he practiced banking law and served as director of content of the original Law.com.","url":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/author\/dclarkifamnews-com"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/30"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245018"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245018\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245065,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245018\/revisions\/245065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ifamnews.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}