The party CAMPUS CORNER

Our July 4th Freedom Day Tea Party was finally at hand. My wife and I along with our staff and volunteers had spent untold hours preparing for this event. Our goal for this tea party was to generate motivation for a “Common Sense” approach to some of the issues facing our country today. We were blessed to have Mr. Louis Ingram with us. Louis is a retired constitutional lawyer and is passionate about protecting and restoring the constitution as our founding fathers’ intended for it be. I was there in costume again as Thomas Paine to M.C. the event and to hopefully scratch the surface with some current day “Common Sense” ideas, aimed at un-silencing the “Silent Majority. I want to share a little background and history from my research on Thomas Paine, who wrote a pamphlet in 1776 called “Common Sense” as a prelude to our event on the 4th.

In January 1776, it seemed unlikely that the 13 American colonies would declare independence from England. Even as George Washington was leading the Colonial Army against the British in Boston, most of the delegates attending the Continental Congress in Philadelphia wanted to patch up things with King George. John Adams who led the advocates for freedom asked for a non-binding survey of the delegates to see where they stood. The results were disheartening. Less that a third voted for independence. Even Virginia voted no. Then, late in the month of January, a seemingly small event changed the course of history. Thomas Paine published an 80 page pamphlet called “Common Sense” which presented common sense arguments to refute the predominant theory of sovereignty for the Western world. Instead of a divine birthright that gave King’s and Queen’s power over others, Paine made the case for individual sovereignty, declaring that all powers of government were derived from the individuals who created the government.

His arguments were so clearly stated that anyone could understand that individual sovereignty was the natural order, based on self-evident, eternal truths. Each individual human being, DEVINELY CREATED and given free will by their CREATOR, had the right to function in society in a manner which allowed them to exercise that DIVINE gift of free will. Paine went on to explain the inevitability of the colonies’ separation from England. He then suggested how the war could be won and proposed structures for the new colonial government. To say that his small pamphlet struck a chord with colonials would be the understatement of the millennium! An estimated 500,000 copies were printed and read by the vast majority of the 3 million people residing in the 13 colonies. In late March, General Washington wrote in a personal letter that “by private letters which I have lately received from Virginia, I find COMMON SENSE is working a powerful change in the minds of many men.”

By July, the groundswell had reached the boiling point. On July 2nd, with New York abstaining, the Continental Congress unanimously voted for independence. On July 4th, 1776 our constitution was signed by 56 very courageous individuals and the rest is history. In 1805 John Adams wrote of Paine, “I know not whether any man in the world has had more influence on its inhabitants or affairs for the last thirty years than Tom Paine.”

Pretty cool stuff huh. This is why I choose Thomas Paine’s character and Common Sense ideas for our Tea Party. We can make a difference in our country by getting off our couches as the “silent majority” and becoming the vocal majority. Like the old saying goes: The squeaky wheel gets oiled first. I believe Samuel Adams said it better “It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.” Honestly we have, I have, sat back too long watching the vocal few pressure our elected officials, judges and so on in getting their way and have done nothing to stop them, until we have lost some of the very freedoms our founding fathers fought and died for. I am ashamed that I have done nothing until now.

Together we can make a difference.