"Live Free or Die"

In today's blog I want to ruminate on "Live Free or Die"; the official motto of the State of New Hampshire, adopted in 1945.

According to Wikipedia, "The phrase comes from a toast written by General John Stark on July 31, 1809. Poor health forced Stark, New Hampshire's most famous soldier of the American Revolutionary War, to decline an invitation to an anniversary reunion of the Battle of Bennington. Instead, he sent his toast by letter: 'Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils'."

How far Western humans have fallen from this man's courage into fear in general, and fear of death in particular, can be gauged by our National and personal attitudes around death and dying. Perhaps the most blatant example was the case of the woman in Florida, who had been on life support for a number of years. When her husband decided to disconnect the life support, it caused a major outrage, not only in Florida, but in the whole Country. Congress, which was in Recess, went back in session to pass a bill forbidding it. Then President Bush returned from his perpetual vacation to sign the Bill into law.

The positive result of that controversy, however, was to reveal all sides of the debate, perhaps for the first time, allowing many people to really think about what they believe about an individual's right to die, and under what conditions.

The degree to which Western human's are not allowed to decide when to die, even at the late stages of life expectancy, and ill health, was made most evident by the prosecution of Doctor Jack Kevorkian, who had been named, "Dr. Death." (Dr. Kevorkian died, July 3rd, 2011, and is now free to discover what the afterlife holds.)

The governmental opposition to efforts to pass, "Right to Die" laws, is adamant. It equals in fervor the Government's, "War on Drugs." One of the vaunted National Beliefs is that this is a, "free Country". In fact, the whole World believes that this is a "free Country."

Since the turn of the 21st Century, we have become even less free, because of the instilled fear of, "terrorism." Due to this Indoctrinated fear we have accepted Bush's Patriot Act, restricting even more personal freedoms. The unofficial new motto of the Country, "Do whatever you want, just keep me safe!"

On March 23, 1775, Patrick Henry, in a speech he made to the Virginia Congressional Convention, advocating a Revolutionary War with Briton, ended that speech with, "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" The speech can be read here: http://libertyonline.hypermall.com/henry-liberty.html

As long as one is free in their minds, they are free, even if in a prison. Unfortunately, as I have been writing about, most individuals in the Western World are just as much imprisoned by their Belief Systems, as well as habits and fears, as any prisoner held in one of the many prisons in this Country. (In case you do not know it, this Country has a greater percentage of its population in prison currently, than anywhere else in the world.)

Only by freeing one's mind from Programmed and Indoctrinated Beliefs, as well as negative habits and fear, can one obtain freedom in ones thoughts.

With that belated, 4th of July message, I end this blog.

Shirley Gallup