Saturday, July 5, 2008

The Blood of The Children

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants". This is a famous Thomas Jefferson Quote. In this era of sound bite thinking this quote has been reduced to a bumper sticker: "Freedom isn't free". The bumper sticker version removes the cost of freedom, blood, and who pays. But consider that perhaps the reason for the removal of such words extends beyond the mere distillation of the quote to a bumper sticker.

Given the pervasive media's morbid infatuation with the death toll in the war on terror, it would not be unreasonable to conclude that, although freedom isn't free, blood might be too high a price to pay. And perhaps this would be the right conclusion when thinking of freedom in the context of modernity. Yet when Jefferson penned those words, he did so within the confines of natural law; a self evident understanding that there was an absolute unchangeable standard that governed the whole of mankind. Within that context, the understanding of liberty dealt with over-reaching governments, tyrants and despots that were to be defeated, even if it meant sending patriots to die on the battlefield, if liberty were to be preserved. There was an understanding in that day by those who had fresh memories of the inherent and enduring tensions that exist between man's yearning for freedom and his lust for power. It is from that perspective that our constitutional government, with its original intent of law and separated powers, can be understood with clarity.

There has been a pernicious shift in prevailing thought in the last half century however. Gone are the underpinnings of an absolute standard upon which the cost of freedom was enumerated; replaced by the shifting sands of a relative standard. Upon this standard of every man a law unto himself, a society's understanding of what morality it should impose upon itself via legislation, and which old impositions should be expunged, is ever changing under the force of anyone who can muster the power to achieve that change. Say hello to the new liberties of the multi-billion dollar porn and abortion industry. Say good by to any standards of decency that might stand in the way, and the freedom of the expression of religion that might cause a tinge of guilt.

Another casualty of this shift in thinking for any nation is its ability to defend itself, for if there is no higher order, there is nothing to defend except licence to do what an individual wills no matter how disdainful. The price paid in a war of this sort is ultimately cheap in terms of Jefferson's "tree of liberty" because it is fought in the courtrooms of a dying and visionless nation where the worst thing that can happen to the "patriot" is the necessity for an appeal. In these battles the blood of the true patriots is trampled upon as dung on the court room floor. Because the truth of the matter is that people do not freely give their lives for the right to buy and sale smut, or the right of a the rapist, child molester or pedophile to roam free . In cultural wars the only nutrition the tree of Jefferson's brand of liberty receives is money. This might explain the tree's impoverished state in America.

This is not to say that a tree of liberty is not refreshed with blood however, for in fact one is. Instead of the blood of patriots and tyrants, it receives the blood of children and the innocent. This fact goes unnoticed because, unlike the blood of the patriot, of which we're constantly reminded with long face and scowl of the tally by those whom disagree with his mission, the children are dying for something with which the prevailing media agrees. This something is the casting off of old guilt riddled restraint, and so called Victorian repression. No longer do we as a society have to live with the repressive consequences of shame and guilt. Judgement and discernment have been thrown into the dungeon along with its contemporaries chastity and decency. But do not be deceived, there is a cost for such licentious liberties, and the larger burden of that cost is bore by the weakest among us: children. But it is a price even the ardent anti-war progressive, with his hand wringing over the death toll of war, and his cries of "it's for the children!" is willing to pay. It's a new day, with a new liberty, and a new price to pay for that liberty. And it's paid by the victims of child murderers, molesters, rapist, and pedophiles. And don't expect a daily tally on the six O:clock news either. But the blood of these children is no less the cost for our current brand of foundationless liberty.

The latest high profile blood spilled was that of twelve year old Brooke Bennett. She is a casualty of a society that sees the liberty of her alleged murderer, Michael Jacques, a convicted sex offender, as more important than her very life; a society that did not have the will to protect her from the evil with which she met; a society that could not even call wrong and evil any of his behavior leading up to the moment he demanded of Brooke her life. Unlike the soldier, Brooke was denied the peace that might comfort a soldier at his time of death as he hopes that his death is not in vane. She could not have known as her consciousness faded that through her death, a lost and deluded society might be able to muster the will to keep this from happening again; at least at the hand of this particular child molester.

The demented addicts of the free flow of smut who have given themselves over to whatever fantasies roam their darkened minds; or the self proclaimed free thinking "progressives" that have freed themselves from the constraints of any concept of objective morality, will not say thank you to Brooke Bennett. There will be no empty moments of silence in commemoration of her or others like her who have paid the ultimate price on their behalf. But we should. Hence forth on July 12th, the day of Brooke Bennett's birth, and her funeral, we should observe another kind of memorial day. We will remember the children who have died at the hands of convicted pedophiles, and their ilk so that a lost and deluded society might finally muster the will to protect the young and defenseless, at least from their particular murderers.

Right now as you read this, somewhere, there is a young and innocent child, perhaps playing with a toy on her living room floor. Somewhere else, perhaps nearby, is a convicted predator enjoying his liberty, prowling the streets in search of his next victim. And one day these two will meet, and while her assailant uses her for his enjoyment, she will die a tortuous and horrific death. And she will do so, not as a soldier trained, equipped and armed on a battle field fighting for a civilized society and so refreshing the tree of liberty, but instead in a quiet secluded place where her screams will be not heard. Like the soldier, that child will be giving her life for the cause of a liberty, but for an ungrateful recipient. And this liberty will be a liberty totally alien to that of Jefferson's. And as we will inevitable demonstrate, totally alien to that of a civilized and peaceful society.

11 comments:

Kristi said...

I am ill thinking about it. I wish we could cast them all into the sea with millstones around their necks.

WomanHonorThyself said...

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants". ..fabulous read Danny!..visit WHT more ofen eh?..:)

Anonymous said...

Well said, Danny,

I see in my 79 years -- our society is corrupted... But it was in my earlier years to a lesser extent.

Pray for our countrymen that they will awaken.

In Christ eternally,

ExP(Jack)

Nikki said...

I couldn't agree with this post any more than I do...I have often thought that the freedom of our children has disappeared because of a society's insistence on smut and pornography being protected as speech. Excellent post. The ones I like the best are the posts you say "yeah!" after and I definately did to this one. Thanks for checking out my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I am going to add you to my blogroll and would love to be on yours! :)N

Beth said...

Danny, thank you for your impassioned, eloquent post on behalf of the ignored who are being led to slaughter.

Kristi, something to consider: some pedophiles/serial killers have come to faith in Christ while in prison, such as Ted Bundy, who admitted he deserved execution before being put to death. Christ died for them also; let the one without sin cast the first stone (or body into the sea). Blessings, Beth

Susan said...

Danny, This is one of the most moving posts that I have ever read. Especially coming on the heels of celebrating our Independance Day. I wept my way through this post.

I am taking the liberty of posting about it on my blog with a link to your site.

Thank you so much for writing this.
Susan

Tina said...

Hi Danny, nothing causes me more grief and tears than hearing stories like this. I can't imagine God will let it all go on much longer. God help us and have mercy on us.

Maalie said...

>Given the pervasive media's morbid infatuation with the death toll in the war on terror

Well, you have dressed it up with some sensationalism yourself, I might say!

One man's "morbid infatuation" is another's "accounting of the cost".

Danny Wright said...

Honorthyself, I'll try to get by more often, thx.

Thanks Expreacherman for dropping by.

nikke, thank you so much for the encouragement.

Penless I am honored that you would link to this post. I agree, this is worthy of tears.

Tina
It's so good to hear from you again .

mallie
long time on see, good to see you back. I'm not sure I understand what you mean by your comment.

Pat Jenkins said...

like jefferson with his declaration, dw you yourself have penned quite a work of art here!!!... the attempt to dilute the idea of a "right" has lead us down the path you so mourn. a path that may lead to the destruction of the true sense of freedom!!!

Anonymous said...

good to see you blogging - looks like you are developing a regular following - very good