Stand Up for Liberty

This post, written by Christy Hardin Smith, originally appeared on FireDogLake

On this Fourth of July, the following words ring out like a clarion call to every citizen:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

We the people. Not the government on our behalf. Not some overarching authority who orders us about. But we, the people -- that is where the power for change in this nation resides. We forget that at our peril, and at times, I think we forget how powerful the lifting up of collective voices all around the nation can be in moving the public dialogue and action toward a "more perfect union."

The Founders of this nation understood that we were not perfect at the inception of the country, but that it was the striving toward a better society, always pushing forward toward a greater good despite whatever setbacks or poor choices in the moment were made, that brought us closer to a "more perfect union." So long as a group of dedicated patriots were willing to stand for freedom, justice and liberty, the heart of the nation's principles would not fade.

We must be those patriots today, for the sake of the nation.