Email from Liberty Counsel

Mathew D. Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
 
7/4/2013
 
There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. Have you considered the price they paid for putting their name on what the British viewed as a treasonous document? 
 
Please see my special Independence Day message below – Mat.
 
 
willard,
 
On July 4, 1776, fifty-six delegates to the Second Continental Congress voted unanimously to approve the wording of the Declaration of Independence, which boldly stated,
 
“…these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown…”
 
The fifty-six men who signed the Declaration knew that they would be considered traitors to the crown and would likely become targets of the British army. They also knew they could become targets of their own neighbors, as not everyone in the colonies agreed there should be separation from the Empire.
 
Here are a few details, based on historical evidence, about some of those brave men…
Richard Stockton is believed to have been the only signer imprisoned by the British specifically for signing the Declaration of Independence.
Four others were captured during the Revolutionary War while engaged in warfare against the crown and were held as prisoners.
Seventeen held commissions in the army or did medical duty during the war. Many saw their properties and livelihoods destroyed while serving.
Two would become President of the United States:  John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
These were committed patriots who firmly believed that their cause was just and right.  They unequivocally said as much in the Declaration’s opening statements…
 
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
 
willard, today we celebrate our nation’s birthday. I hope you will remember the bravery and sacrifices of the Founders. We should also pay tribute to all Americans who have paid, or are paying, a price for our freedom. 
 
++Our defenders need to be defended.
 
The tragic fact is that the Obama administration has declared war on the religious liberties of our servicemen and women.
 
In what amounts to religious persecution in our nation’s armed forces, President Obama has targeted the First Amendment rights of our military personnel by restricting their free exercise of religion and freedom of speech.
 
For many of our men and women in uniform, faith and religious beliefs are what sustain them through the enormous pressures and stresses of the battlefield. 
 
If an environment is created in which service members feel that expressing their religion could be found in violation of military policy and grounds for reprimand, it will have a profoundly negative effect on our military.
 
Our servicemen and women put their lives on the line every day in order to protect our constitutionally guaranteed rights, including the expression of our beliefs.  Congress must ensure that we are protecting them as well!
 
We are calling for the Senate to pass the Religious Liberties Amendment as proposed by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), amending the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
 
We have drafted a petition which will be delivered to leaders in the United States Senate boldly declaring, “I Support the Religious Liberties Amendment” and we need your name to be included.
 
I urge you to take a minute right now and support our military in this tangible way by defending their rights – even as they fight to defend ours.
 
Click here to add your name to this important petition:
 
http://www.libertyaction.org/385/petition.asp
 
We must resist any program that restricts or diminishes religious liberty!  Please take a minute to add your name to this important petition on behalf of our troops: 
 
http://www.libertyaction.org/385/petition.asp
 
God bless you for taking this important action with me! 
 
Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman
Liberty Counsel
 
P.S. The Declaration of Independence also states…
 
“But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.”
 
Now is the time for us to stand against the despotism of the Obama administration.  Please take a moment for civic action today and add your name to our petition to protect the religious liberties of our military service members: 
 
http://www.libertyaction.org/385/petition.asp
  
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