All people, as demonstrated in Egypt and Libya, universally desire freedom. Yet freedom cannot exist without justice.

Dictators deny justice in order to enslave the populace, and tyranny flourishes. America is a Christian nation primarily because America’s freedom is a gift from Jesus Christ, whose spirit is always to have freedom.

Righteousness (justice) is also a gift from God, who gives it to us personally through Christ: “being filled with the fruits of righteousness.” Christians, therefore, know that our freedom is holy, a gift from God and not from government or any worldly source.

Those who seek to destroy our freedom must first remove God from the public arena. We have observed this happening in America for decades through subversive organizations that steal our freedom under the guise of protecting “civil liberties.”

“In God We Trust” is America’s motto for a reason. It is worth every sacrifice that Christian pilgrims of 1620 and subsequent generations of Americans made to keep freedom on our shores. That includes us, you and me and every American who wishes not to be a slave.

Raymond Barnes

Southern Pines