245 years ago, almost every person on earth was a slave. Only kings and lord’s were citizens with God given inalienable rights. Then, a few of those slaves proclaimed they also we’re children of God and He granted all his creation inalienable rights, among these: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Ever since Thomas Jefferson penned those immortal words, humans have been in a continuous struggle for liberty and rights. Wars have been fought to overthrow kings, despots and tyrants. Peaceful and violent protests have led to freedom. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, Lech Walesa, and others brought greater freedom to billions.

Still, we are always only a generation away from forgetting and losing that freedom. Look at China cracking down on Hong Kong. They are subjects of the Chinese state. They want to be citizens with freedom of speech, etc. They want their inalienable rights.

Much of the world is in battle for freedom right now. The battles continue in the United States, as people of color seek their own rights. The Amish just won a case in the Supreme Court against tyranny in county government. Religious freedom barely won out against despotism here in America.

The Berlin Wall fell about 30 years ago. Hundreds of millions became free with little bloodshed. Sadly, Russia and other nations again struggle between freedom and government control. Freedom is failing in many nations right now. This is partially due to America being distracted in endless foreign wars and internal struggle, rather than being Reagan’s city on the hill.

We need to be that light again.

We must either seek to expand freedom, or others will come and take it away. And freedom must be for everyone, else no one is truly free.