The men who founded The United States of America were the finest example of what it means to stand up for your values. They stood for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all human beings. Before they won their freedom, they were known as American terrorists, and only three percent of the population supported their efforts. However, these fine men created the country that stands as a symbol of freedom for the world. In Hong Kong, they are demonstrating for democratic freedom and whose banner do they fly? The flag of the United States of America. What song do they sing for freedom? The United States National Anthem.

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Although the ideas of freedom and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all are noble, applying this form of democracy and personal freedom can be messy. My freedom is dependant upon your freedom. Because each of us is free to define what that means to ourselves, we have to be respectful of the freedom of others. No one can deny another their fundamental rights in their quest for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

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Values are absolutely essential to maintain the balance that all of us as humans have to have for one another. The basic respect level requires us to understand that you have your values, and I have mine, and that’s okay. These commonalities of how to behave and respect one another used to be supplied by Judeo Christian values. With the loss of religion, the underlying values have to be passed down, or they are lost as well. Respect for your fellow American has to be carefully weighed with your beliefs. You have the right to kneel when the National Anthem plays, but when balancing that choice with respect for all of those who have fought and died for our country, should you?

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When values erode, it leaves room for media manipulations and negative feelings about our country to create dissension. Have no doubt, America has been the banner of freedom for the world since its founding. When this belief erodes corruption moves in.

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It is not easy to organize a democracy where so many citizens are fighting for so many personal values. The population of the country is ever-increasing, creating more people to fight for more values. Navigating through all these ideas requires informed debates and full disclosure of all the possible outcomes.

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People can’t turn to the government to support their values. It is great to have a personal belief, but if you force everyone else to support that through the law, you remove their personal freedoms. The more ideas you mandate, the more freedoms are lost.

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Some religious values are fundamentally at odds with the concept of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Any religion that supports denying another human being the freedom to live their life as they see fit cannot exist in conjunction with the system our founding fathers set forth.

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New laws threaten our freedoms every day. Sometimes our enforcement of personal values leads to the limitations of freedom for others, and every time this happens, it gives more power to the governors of that freedom.