“No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House.” Few recognize these words as the lightning rod to the beginning of a critical vote in the Virginia Convention. However, most Americans will instantly recognize the last seven words of the speech that galvanized the hearts and minds of a majority of the delegates. “…Give me liberty, or give me death.” How these words still resonate more than 240 years after they were first uttered by the patriot Patrick Henry. Meant to fire up the Virginia delegates, the lengthy speech ending in this famous phrase, did just that – barely. It was a vote so close that PNN (Patriot News Network, of course) would have shifted their 24-hour news focus to covering every angle, from possible voter fraud to hanging chads to never-ending recounts. In the end, 65 of the 125 Virginia delegates voted in favor of independence. And so the march to liberty had begun.
Now, if we were able to view history as a collage (a la “The Big Bang Theory” opening song sequence) going forward from the moment of Henry’s soul-stirring pronouncement, we would witness countless instances of individuals with the words liberty and death on their lips. We see the Soldier in the trenches near the Somme, the Marine storming the shore at Kwajalein, the Sailor engaging enemy forces at Pearl Harbor, the Airman in the skies over Vietnam, and the Coast Guardian protecting our nation’s waters against those who would do us harm.
You see, every year thousands of men and women raise their right hand and “swear to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic….” It is on Veterans Day that Americans come together in unity to remember and thank those who have worn the nation’s uniform in service, for Americans have long understood that liberty comes with a price. Patrick Henry, too, understood the cost of such an ideal. In the same speech to the Virginia delegates, he said these words;
“They tell us, sir, that we are weak, unable to cope with such an adversary…. Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? …Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? …Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us.”
Those are the words of a man who believed that liberty was so incredibly valuable, that if denied the right to its access, he would, as he said, rather be dead. In the grand scheme, there are few things equal to the value of liberty. At least Patrick Henry thought so…and about 1% of the population at any one time thinks so too. You see, that is the percentage of Americans today that serve in uniform. Not a lot, but enough. Just like in Henry’s day, today’s American military is invincible against any force that that enemy can send against it.
Like Patrick Henry and 64 of the other Virginia delegates, Americans have historically placed such high regard for liberty that they go to places far away to fight tyranny and those forces which would steal liberty from the innocent. Whether one agrees with this principle or not, Americans have fought the enemies of liberty around the world; from Nazi Germany to Communist North Korea to right here at home against those who would enslave others because of skin color. The surprise is not that there are those who seek to rule over others by abusive power, but that there are those who would answer liberty’s call even when the possible outcome is death.
Let me close with these final thoughts. Liberty is an incomparable thing. A couple of thousands of years ago, the apostle Paul reminded us that even though levels of liberty are found in various aspects of life, true liberty is found only in the presence of the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 3:17 he writes, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Like Paul, Patrick Henry understood that God was the real key for liberty to be realized. Listen one more time to words from his “Give me liberty” speech; “Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations….”
Today, on Veteran’s Day, we celebrate those who serve and who have served in that invincible force we call the United States military. All for the cause of liberty.
Faith, Leadership, and History 