Saoirse (Freedom) -Value & Guard It

In Ireland they have been fighting for hundreds of years over freedom. The Gaelic word for "freedom" is "Saoirse" (that is pronounced SEER-Shun, I know, but it's Gaelic so just go with it). It is so important a concept to them that they say it as though it is a magical word. It is a greeting, a blessing, a wish and a declaration all rolled up in one. One of the things that we Americans have that make this such a special country is "Freedom". It is the core element of our political philosophy.

The Declaration of Independence was written because we were determined to be free. In it we declared to the world that we had certain rights and that because those rights were being abused by the government of Great Britain, we had a right and an obligation to ourselves and to each other to replace that government with one which recognized and protected our right to be free. Our founding fathers were willing to go to war against the most powerful country in the world to secure that freedom. The Bill of Rights and the Constitution were crafted for the purpose of guarding our freedom.

Since the founding of our country we have jealously protected our freedom against continuous attempts to infringe on or curtail our freedom. We have been willing to go to war over the right to be free. One of the major reasons we fought a very bloody Civil War was to destroy slavery. We were willing to die, by the tens of thousands, because we said all Americans, regardless of their race or origin, had a right to be free and equal under the law.

Right now, today, our government is debating the issue of health care. The debate is not over whether we should have health care or not - it is about how to provide it in a way that guarantees our rights -our freedom. We are trying to establish a system that provides for our health care but which also safe guards our right to choose what care we want. We are trying to come up with a system that allows us the freedom to decide when to see a doctor, what doctor to see, and what care is best for us as individuals -but, at the same time, guards the rights of everyone else to share the same quality of care.

Many Americans take our freedom for granted. We are born with it and expect it as a way of life. In America when we do not like what our government is doing, we say so. We tell each other, we go to rallies, we write blogs and letters, we give speeches. When we get mad enough at our government, we vote our representatives out of office and replace them with people we hope will do a better job. 

We must not forget that most of the people alive today do not have those freedoms. That there are many places where those freedoms are still being fought and died for.

Freedom is a valuable right. It is like gold. It is something so valuable that people will do anything to have it. They will lie, steal, cheat and kill for it. When you have it, you have to guard it constantly or it will be taken from you.

Freedom is a gift and you should thank God for it. Always Remember: It is a gift that can be taken away in an instant.

Keep it close, guard it, fight for it 

 -or loose it.

Saoirse!