Please indulge me a moment of patriotism as I wish you and yours a glorious Independence Day! National Public Radio celebrated the holiday this morning with a complete reading of the Declaration of Independence. If it's been awhile since you read it (like maybe since high school?), you should take a moment and read it through. Yes, the language is old English and difficult; it certainly doesn't flow like a Stephnen King novel or a Newsweek article, but what it says is a good reminder of the important values our country was based on. And however you interpret what these values mean today in your life, you can't read the document without feeling how painful it was to break ties with England.
As I read the Wiki entry for this blog entry, I was intrigued by the reference to John Locke, English philosopher, whose ideas influenced Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, and others was they wrote and re-wrote our Declaration. Locke' writings, in turn, influenced both Voltaire and Rousseau, whose ideas planted the seeds for the French Revolution. And who influenced John Locke? Rene Descartes, another Frenchman!
Again....I'm fascinated by the 'connections.'
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