Its time to get to work, folks. Shoots need staffed and 7th Stepping has to get done to get these lazy Americans awakened to their roles as citizens.
We used to be a Nation of Riflemen.
I once compared something one of our volunteers did to something one of the Founders did. Almost immediately some joker immediately jumped on the forum to chastise me. I was stupid. I was a failure and an idiot for comparing anything we in the present did with what they had done. How could I? How dare I? What possible qualification did I have to say such a thing? What unmitigated gall did it take to say that? How DARE I?
Easily.
No good father ever raised his sons to be less than. He would never do that. Good fathers raise children to be better than they. We do not get our rights from them, and making our mission some form of ancestral worship will only ensure our failure. These were great men, but they were just men. Some were very intelligent and many were great leaders but they did not give us our rights, we share the same rights. We can honor their sacrifice, and we can appreciate their ability and their steadfastness, but we cannot make more of them than they are.
What they had was a terrible choice. Liberty or Subjugation? Liberty...or Death? It was a terrible choice, indeed, but it was an easy one. Ask any indolent American if they prefer Liberty or Death and, even if they lack a certain understanding of the nuance of that question, they will choose Liberty. As Americans it is encoded into us. The reality of the Founders' Choice was ugly and terrible, and it is hard for many of us to conceive but for the Patriots among them, it was not a hard choice.
Our choice is different. Our subjugation will not come at the hands of an enemy easily seen. No. He does not appear on the horizon with legions at his back adorned with vibrant red coats. No. He looks back at us in the mirror every morning. Our enemy is tough to beat because he is us. To save this country we need to make a fundamental change in ourselves and take responsibility for the future. We have to improve ourselves. Being part of this program means you are taking responsibility for helping people make themselves better. It can be tough. The responsibility of it, the labors of it, the hassle of it will weigh on you. It can wear on you but it can reward you. When you forget that, work a shoot with Yellowhousejake or Auntiebellum.
There is nothing written that says that this country's greatest generation has to be its first generation. If we are even scratch at fulfilling the Promise that this country offers we have to believe that it could be us.
To do that we have to know where we came from so we know how far we have to go. Brother and Sisters, we got miles to go but its going to be worth it.
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/6841103834_2335d92585_z.jpg)
Thanks.
I needed that.
2cl
Great rant!!! ^:)^ Thank you for telling it like it is or should be. ~ Two Wolves
now--off to Lake Jackson for an Appleseed, only 6 hrs away %)
Thanks SPQR, good stuff. Mine this weekend is only 10 minuets away!....O.L.
Well said SPQR
well said Brother O0 Your post got me thinking on how we can easily identify as foes to freedom.
The NRA has a list of individuals and media outlets who use their fame,influence and money to eliminate our 2A rights .
This small step would go a long way to furthering our goal of a nation of Riflemen. At events we often say " A Rifleman proves everyhing and a Rifleman does not get tricked "....
By using this list and not giving anyone on it our attention ,they become less powerful and we find sources of information and entertainment that further the cause of liberty .
Thanks. Great picture, BTW. Kids used to bring rifles to school as the picture shows.
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. ... be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again. Ronald Regan.
Great post SPQR and a fantastic photo! Is it just me, or does that muzzle look to be a .30 caliber? If it is, I can see no eye protection in that era :shootself:, but no earplugs? OUCH!
Well said, sir... well said. O0
Blah blah blah... So SPQR writes well, big deal. Moving words and pointed pictures are nice (I suspect they are posing the position, I doubt they fired rounds in the locker room), but take his words as a challenge. He is not showing us how we can feel good about our membership in this great endeavor, he is asking us if we are participating in it.
Are we?
No one will remember how badly we wanted to save a country, only that we did, or did not. The time is now, right now! Everything is coming into place and the fates are turning towards us. We have ranges that want us, we have industry that will support us, we have people looking for that which we offer.
Many a morning I have swung my feet out of bed and sat thinking "Another weekend? Why am I getting up a 4:30 for only ten shooters?". By the time I hold that Redcoat over my head a few hours later, I know. So I keep making phone calls, I keep signing up for events, I keep trying to find that eighth day in the week. In many ways we have a tougher hill to climb than our founders did. Getting your neighbor off the couch is simpler when there is a canon ball coming through the door. My neighbor's couch is comfortable, and the TV tells them to not worry, this candidate is going to make everything alright, go back to sleep.
SPQR says it can be a burden and he is right. The hardest thing to do in the this world is nothing. The doing is a burden we can all share, the nothing is a burden that we sleep alone with at night. I have met my conscience and he is a bitter mean old $@#%!. I dislike him because he is always reminding me when I am doing nothing.
Filling the lines and working every shoot we can is easy. It's a matter of doing it. This is an opportunity for our time, a chance to show that we are deserving of the Liberties of a free people. Will we rise to the occasion, or will we go back to sleep?
We used to be a Nation of Riflemen...
Yellowhousejake
great post by both spqr and yellowhousejake.