Monday, August 31, 2009

Sands in the Hour Glass

by Ron Russell

While commenting on an article by James on Right On concerning the Constitution and gun rights I began to think about all the rights I have seen slip away over the years. The following is the comment I left on "Right On":

The constitution is clear on gun ownership rights, but slowly over many years the state and federal governments have steadily and methodically chipped away at those rights as they have with other basic rights that we once had. Rights that the young don't even miss because they never experienced them. Sometime I see our rights, our freedoms, and our liberty's slipping away like sands in the hour glass. Once that freedom, that right is gone it does NOT return. It's gone forever and all the complaining and the moaning will never get it back. As the sands of the hour glass get lower and lower one can more easily see the change--the movement seems quicker although the rate remains the same. It's just that the remaining freedoms and rights are fewer and the loss of even one is sorely missed and more become aware of the approaching emptiness. If we are not careful this emptiness will be filled by something that is totally alien to our American way of life, something that will repress individuality, something that will stifle our remaining values, and something that will crush our children's future.

Bookmark and Share

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many rights and freedoms have fallen by the wayside and most never notice, your post rings true.

Ron Russell said...

I have seen great changes during my lifetime most were not for the better and few if any extended personal liberties or rights. The older a state becomes the more repressive it becomes.

Right Truth said...

Have faith Ron, I see a brighter future for us Conservatives. People are waking up, finally. They are getting off their couches and taking to the streets and town hall meetings, manning the phone to congress.

There are so many new applications for conceal carry gun permits, that in many states, Tennessee included, they are way behind. We have had CCP for years and years, we renewed again in June I think it was. We still don't have our new renewal card, but they sent a letter saying "carry this with you to show you are leagle until we can get your new ccp processed" there are so many new applications they can't keep up.

This is good news for us, bad news for the gun haters. Even if somehow Obama could ban guns for average law abiding citizens, we could not give them up.

Deborah F. Hamilton
Right Truth
http://www.righttruth.typepad.com

Ron Russell said...

I think you could be right Debbie, I have a post coming out tomorrow along those lines. I've been so busy lately that I've had to rehash a number of old post but tomorrows will be something new for a change. I gearing up to go to some arts and crafts shows---seems like they get harder to do each year.

Mr Pink Eyes said...

That is a great analogy with the hourglass. The more rights that get chipped away the easier it becomes for the government to take more rights away as people become more empathetic. As the hourglass winds down the people can watch our rights be taken away yet they have grown so accustomed to it that they seem to lack the passion to do anything about it.

Ron Russell said...

Sad but true, but hope for change--the right kind of change continues--I'm posting on just this tomorrow.

Teresa said...

The sands in the hour glass is a great description and analogy. Unfortunately, too much sand (FREEDOM) has slipped through our fingers, or been taken away from us and we cannot allow any more of our freedoms to be taken away from us. We must now take a stand. I believe this may end up being similar in type to Martin Luther Kings movement, or fight for civil rights. We may have to fight to keep our constitutional rights from being taken away from us. Even with me being in my early 30's I can still say that I have experienced some of our freedoms taken from us.

Bitmap said...

I see the same issue in schools. Children in government schools in many areas are subject to going through metal detectors and searches and told that it is normal and to be expected. It prepares them to give up their rights when they become adults.

Given the number of "children" acting as adult violent criminals in some areas I don't know what the answer is.

Ron Russell said...

Great point Bitmap, I was aware of the metal detectors, but never thought about the relationship to future rights---the same could be said about many things, many are getting use to more and more government intrusions in our lifes.

Ron Russell said...

Yes Teresa, we have lost many freedoms, I prefer the word liberty to freedom however as did the founders, although I occasionally use freedom. I hestitate to compare the struggle for civil right in the '60's with the current struggle in that it was directed at one segment of the population---this applies to everyone and not just one group. In giving rights to one group you are generally taking something from another, but when the struggle is for the rights of all then everyone benefits and their is not special interest effect. I'm starting to sound like a politician,"complicating the obvious and trivializing the momentous", ha!