The 4th of July is a celebration of freedom. It is important to remember what freedom is about and why people flock to the US to be free. The first 10 amendments (Bill of Rights) to our Constitution defines our basic freedoms that our government needs to respect. These include freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom of the press, freedom to assemble, right to petition our government, freedom to bear arms, equal treatment under the law (14th amendment).
Historically people have immigrated to the US to escape tyrannical regimes and to be free. Early immigrants coming to the “new world” came to worship without interference or state dictated religion. Others immigrated came looking for freedoms because they were jailed if they disagreed with policies, objected to their leaders, private property was confiscated and legal proceedings favored the government and the wealthy. The Bill of Rights allows American citizens the freedom to speak, say and believe what they accept as truth and sets limits on powers of the Federal and State government and has enshrined those freedoms as rights of the people.
Historically we have cherished our American freedoms because it gives us the right to worship as a Baptist, Catholic, Jew, Hindu, Islam, Buddhist, Methodist, Luther, Quaker, LDS, all of the above, other or none of the above.
Freedom also means that the government cannot dictate our political views. This means we can be a Democrat, a Republican, a Libertarian or none of the above. But it goes deeper than just political party affiliation. American Freedom gives us the right to say what we want politically.
Our American values say that every Americans have the right to believe and say what our individual beliefs and values dictate. This means we have the freedom to be a communist, a socialist, a Marxist, a Vegan, a meat eater, a capitalist, a member of PETA, a member of Greenpeace, a black panther, a white supremacist, a member of Black Lives Matters, a supported of Trump, a hater of Trump, a member of the KKK, a member of the ACLU, etc. A true American and Patriot believes that people have the right to have differing views and that those rights cannot be trampled upon by government if we do not violate the rights of those with different views. That may be a simple paraphrase of our Freedoms. However,we have always held that Americans have the right to say and believe anything we want and have the right to disagree with our government, our family and others without fear of retribution. That is what countless of our people have fought, bleed and died for over our history.