Give me liberty?

You aren’t given liberty. You already have liberty.

No individual, organization, association, or government gives or grants you liberty.

You are already at liberty to do as you please.

But are you free?

There’s Freedom in the Blood

Your Liberty
and
Your Freedom
Are in Your hands. 

They can only be
Secured
For you and your posterity
As long as You are willing
To Take a Stand and shed Your Blood
To preserve them. 

www.iwillstand.net

 

More about the “Tank Man” here.

September 11, 2001, ​plus 16

The words of Ron Paul, September 12, 2001

Yesterday, Americans were awakened to find ourselves in a war, attacked by barbarians who targeted innocent civilians. This despicable act reveals how deep-seated is the hatred that has driven this war.

Though many Americans have just become aware of how deeply we are involved in this war, it has been going on for decades. We are obviously seen by the terrorists as an enemy.

In war, there is no more reprehensible act than for combatants to slaughter innocent civilian bystanders. This is what happened yesterday.

If there is such a thing, a moral war is one that is only pursued in self-defense. Those who initiate aggression against others for the purpose of occupation or merely to invoke death and destruction are unforgivable and serve only to spread wanton killing.

In our grief, we must remember our responsibilities. The Congress’ foremost obligation in a constitutional republic is to preserve freedom and provide for national security. Yesterday our efforts to protect our homeland came up short. Our policies that led to that shortcoming must be reevaluated and changed if found to be deficient.

When we retaliate for this horror we have suffered, we must be certain that only the guilty be punished. More killing of innocent civilians will only serve to flame the fires of war and further jeopardize our security. Congress should consider its constitutional authority to grant letters of marque and reprisal to meet our responsibility.

Demanding domestic security in times of war invites carelessness in preserving civil liberties and the right of privacy. Frequently the people are only too anxious for their freedoms to be sacrificed on the altar of authoritarianism thought to be necessary to remain safe and secure. Nothing would please the terrorists more than if we willingly give up some of our cherished liberties while defending ourselves from their threat.

It is our job to wisely choose our policies and work hard to understand the root causes of the war in which we find ourselves.

We must all pray for peace and ask for God’s guidance for our President, our congressional leaders, and all America- and for the wisdom and determination required to resolve this devastating crisis. – Ron Paul, September 12, 2001

Are you living every day like it’s September 12th?

Every individual who takes these words to heart, understands them, and determines to live by them (as one who is determined to live free) is my brother or sister in Liberty.

What can we do? That’s not the proper question.

The proper question is:

What can I do?

The least I can do is remember what I was like, September 12th, 16 years ago. I need to talk to people and act like I did 16 years ago. I need to think what it means for me to personally Honor and live by the pledge our Republic’s Founders made when they took a stand for Life and Liberty:

“…with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The most I can do is to take a stand for liberty, no matter how small, whenever I can and wherever I am.

I am going to do these things. What about you?

When ALL individuals determine in their hearts to make these personal commitments, then and only then, will our families, neighborhoods, communities, cities, states, and nation begin to change for the better…

From my heart … your heart … OUR hearts outward.

Benjamin Bennett – IWS

Life, Fortune, Honor. Now!

No One saved a life, without first acknowledging (consciously or unconsciously) that they were willing to forfeit their own lives for the sake of another.

No One created a substantial fortune, without first risking, and in many cases, sacrificing all of it. And as hard as it is to fathom, most fortunes are made in the service of others; providing goods and services to those who might not be able to provide that product or service for themselves.

No One has gained true honor, without first exhibiting great humility.  If you do not know what it is like to be the lowest of the low, while still humbly serving and honoring others, including those in authority over you, then you will never know the great responsibility carried by those who are worthy of true honor.

None of these virtues can be bought.

None of these values can be given.

ALL of these values must be earned by putting them into practice now… for the benefit of our posterity.

The Founders knew what was at stake when they signed the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution: They knew they were going to sacrifice their Lives, their Fortunes, their Sacred Honor. They didn’t sacrifice everything for their own benefit. Nothing they did was for themselves….

They sacrificed everything for us… for NOW.

For now. We are their posterity.

While you’re pondering that idea, think about how we as a nation, are showing our appreciation for the sacrifices made by those who gave it all so that you and I can live free.

How are we vigilantly guarding, protecting and honoring our freedoms and liberties? Are you willing to sacrifice your life, fortune and sacred honor for future generations you will never know? What will you do? Where will you stand in your lifetime, that will give future generations pause to remember and honor… you?

 

The Founders sacrificed everything… for an IDEA.

Everything was on the line.

They did what they did… for Us.

For Today.

For Now.

 

Where would YOU have stood if you were them? Where do you stand now? What will the generations that come say about you, after you are dead and gone?

Will they say anything at all?

Or will they share the sentiment of Sam Adams?

If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace.

We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.

~ Samuel Adams

The Heart of the Matter

The Heart of the Matter

IWS Journal 2014 to 2016

[Oct. 2014] Getting to the heart of the matter requires examining the matters of the heart. Too many people are afraid of what they know they will find; so they don’t go looking. They won’t even look at their own reflection in the mirror.

This is why inaction and the unwillingness to take a stand are the only actions those without foundational principles can take.

– BbBennett
[Oct. 2016] I am weary of debating with my friends and not-so-much friends, about who America will decide gets to occupy the White House on Nov. 8.

I am more interested in who you and I will be and where we will stand on 11-9.

The “we the people” who decide the fate of our Republic in a couple of weeks are not thinking like you and me, the individual. Perhaps you have noticed.

The fate of your family, neighborhood and community will be determined by who WE are and where WE stand, on 11-9 and beyond. The principles and values that we are willing to pledge our lives, fortunes and honor to defend, are the only ideas worth debating at this point.

God bless us all as the season of testing approaches.

IWS

Who Will Stand For Liberty?

Regarding our Republic and who will commit themselves to conserving Liberty:

The only thing I have, is my integrity. The only way to multiply it is to stand firm and pray that others will stand with you. I will NOT abdicate my responsibilities as an American and a patriot, not even to a man who may be president.

I will not stand with, nor place my trust in the pie crust promises of ANY man who does not fully believe that the ideas established in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are worth pledging his life, fortune and sacred honor to defend.

That I will likely be vilified or persecuted for standing on the promise of Liberty–sanctified with the blood of our founders–at the hands of the people who believe Mr. Trump will save our nation from the fundamental transformation ahead, will vindicate me and prove my words true.

BBBennett
IWS

The Next Greatest Generation

I am sickened. I am physically ill. Anyone who looks at that picture, and doesn’t see the evil that is about to repeat itself across the globe, makes me sick.

Now that I am over 50, I think I am old enough to safely look back at history with a properly jaundiced and cynical eye. I’m still young enough to be clear-headed. I’m told that I’ve got a few years before dementia sinks in. So I better get to writing.

Did I mention I’m sickened? My heart aches at the realization that I am probably part of the generation that will be known as the generation that buried their heads in the sand.

We are the generation who thought we knew what “Never Again” meant.
We were the last generation to actually see and study the horror that was Democratic Socialism under Hitler… Nazism; Communism under Soviet Russia and Communist China. We grew up during the Cold War. We learned the price of totalitarianism on those who stand against tyranny and defend ourselves and our allies, was an expensive military industrial complex. For those who couldn’t defend themselves or dissolve the governments that oppressed them… death was typically the price they paid.

I thought our generation learned these things. I suppose learning and knowing are two different things. It’s sort of like the difference between schooling and education.

Nevertheless, our generation has no excuse for being as blind as we are.

We saw the film clips; and yet…. We saw the documentaries about the horrors of totalitarianism in all its forms; and yet…. We wrote the reports and research papers in high school; and yet…. Many of us said, “Never Again!!” (admittedly with less enthusiasm than the generation before us) and yet… here we are, turning our heads.

Open Your Eyes!
We are staring into the face of evil in our time…
AND DOING NOTHING.

Ask yourself: Why does being confronted with a young man happily holding someone’s head in his hand, make me mad at this blog and not mad at the reason a young man is happily praising his god while holding a human head?

Hundreds and thousands of Christian men, women and children are being killed every day because of their faith. Gays are being killed because they are infidels. Muslim women are being killed or sold into sex slavery for hundreds of reasons… and no reason.

Why can’t we declare these acts evil? 

From the president on down… we are failing. America is failing to do the one thing we have always had the courage to do in the past; take a stand against evil.

Today it seems we can’t be bothered with taking a stand against evil. And who can blame us? We’ve been taught from the 1970s that life isn’t black and white, evil doesn’t exist, truth is subjective, meaning is whatever you want it to mean. We were groomed to be blind at this time in history.

We are leaving a mess for our children to clean up, just like the generation that raised the children who would eventually fight Naziism during World War II. Our only hope (ironically) is this: because of our inability to take action against evil in our lifetimes, we will accidentally end up raising the “Next Greatest Generation.” Our children will be the next Davids, Daniels, and Gideons. Our children will look at evil and stand against it.

They… our children… will hopefully be known as, the Next Greatest Generation. That is if we allow them to prevail against the evil that is sweeping the globe. We will think we must have taught them something worthwhile, but we will be wrong. Our children will look back at our generation and say:

“We stood up and did what had to be done, in SPITE of what your generation taught us. You didn’t stand for good over evil. You equivocated. You stared at your navels and among other things, you sued people who offended you, while millions died in the name of a “religion” YOU called peaceful. Your generation sickens me.”

God, please forgive our blindness and lack of courage. And bless our children. Raise up a generation of Daniels, Davids and Gideons. Give our children strength, power, courage, and wisdom. Heavenly Father, raise up our Next Greatest Generation.

Never Forget 9-11: Thirteen Years

Listening to Glenn Beck this morning, is making my heart ache. I remember 9/11/2001.

Thirteen years ago.

I heard an alert on the radio, ran downstairs and turned on the television. After what seemed like hours of stunned silence, I saw the second plane hit the towers and waited for the anchors, watching live, to process what was going on. See… up to that point, they (we) were watching a horrible accident — a plane had somehow gone astray, malfunctioned, and accidentally hit the World Trade Towers.

Now that I look back on it, I believe I processed exactly what was happening, long before the television heads watching live with me, figured it out. We were under attack.

I called my two oldest children downstairs and we all watched in horror. I explained what I thought we were seeing. I answered questions as best I could. When the kids wanted to go do something else, I let them. I just sat there and watched, knowing our world will no longer be the same.

I prayed.

Last night, President Obama said that we will be going BACK into Iraq to push back ISIS/ISIL. On the day before the anniversary of 9/11, when thousands of aliens of unknown nationality are pouring over the borders, when we are being warned of more “chatter” about attacks on American soil… our president commits to more meddling in the Middle East, and, by the way, ISIL isn’t an extremist Muslim group.

So this morning, what else can I do? I reflect on what I know to be true, and what I know to be a lie. I ponder what it may mean to me and my family for me to take a stand for a principle or idea today, that might become politically incorrect tomorrow. And I pray for our nation.

I pray that my children, too young at the time, to understand what was really happening; what was–and is–at stake in the battle against good and evil….

I pray that they will not be as complacent as we were on September TENTH, 2001. I pray that they will not falter and succumb to the lie that is political correctness. Intellectual slavery, you go by the initials, P.C.

I pray that my children (and your children) will become aware, bold and strong in their faith, their convictions, and instilled with a firm reliance on the Divine Providence that blessed this country at its founding.

I pray that we, the parents, the ones responsible for raising the next generation of Americans, can muster the strength that only God can provide, and pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor to protecting and defending our great nation, for our posterity.

I pray … God bless America.

On this alone, I Will Stand.

What Does IWS Mean?

When people ask me what IWS means, I say it means “I Will Stand.” This of course begs the question, “What am I taking a stand on?”

Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.

It’s actually simple: I read the words of our founders and the writers of the Constitution, and they all believed in one idea; Liberty for all, by seating the power of self-governance in the hands of THE PEOPLE, not in the hands of rulers.

To that end our Founding Fathers pledged their LIVES, their FORTUNES and their SACRED HONOR. They took a principled stand, so that their posterity (us) could live free.

I admire people like that. How about you? I have made the decision to live by, the simple principles that were the philosophical building blocks — the foundation — of the Constitution. These ideas were so important, a small percentage of the then population of America (around 30% or so) decided that it was worth standing up and defending, promoting, discussing and most importantly, worth fighting for. As for me… I Will Stand with those guys.

In my opinion, it would be dishonorable to be someone who stands against the principles that founded this nation. However, you are free to do so. You are free to do and say whatever you want. You can have principles based on the ideas of others, or you can make up your own. Really. I’m okay with that.

All I ask, is that you be honest with yourself, and others. Be truthful about what you stand for. What are your core principles? Where do YOU stand? And if you stand firmly against the principles that founded this nation (thus against the principles I hold dear) then KNOW THIS: Based on history, I know that I will not be the one who demands that YOU be denied your freedom, liberty or even your LIFE, because of what you believe. I’m pretty sure it will be the other way around. Just like it was for the founders.

I can live with that. Can you?

Attack Watch (your back)

There are two ways to approach something that could very well spell the difference between serious usurpations of liberty and… well, not. One way to approach impending loss of liberty is to get all serious and yell and scream. Result, “conspiracy freak” label.

Approach two: Humor.

I choose door number two. May I introduce my new FaceBook profile picture.

Now would be a good time to see who comments on it favorably or not.

Feel free to use this if you like… or come up with your own. Comment and link here if you want. We’ll make a gallery.