mrerick
08-29-2013, 02:57 PM
Time to have a dream again.
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C. He didn't give this speech...
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Eleven score years ago, great Americans, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, ratified the Bill of Rights. As it limited government in the name of human rights, this momentous decree comes as a great beacon light of hope to millions of citizens who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It comes as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their abuse and insecurity.
But two hundred twenty years later, law abiding citizens are still not free. Two hundred twenty years later, the life of citizens is still sadly crippled by the manacles of mistrust and the chains of executive orders. Two hundred twenty years later, the gun owner lives on a lonely island of security in the midst of a vast ocean of coddled criminals and mentally ill. Two hundred twenty years later, the gun owner is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and its Second Amendment, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, gun owners as well as other citizens, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of personal security and "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given gun owners a bad check, a check which has come back marked "infringed upon rights."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient rights in the great vaults of security of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of violated human rights to the sunlit path of universal justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of constitutional attack to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the gun owner's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and security. This year is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the gun owner needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the legal gun owner is granted his rights without infringement. The whirlwinds of resistance will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting political force with electoral force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the gun owning community must not lead us to a distrust of all politicians, for many of our citizen brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of gun rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the rightful gun owner is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of infringement and criminal brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our personal protection is burdened heavily with the fatigue of licensing and restriction that interferes with lawfully acquiring and carrying firearms and ammunition across borders of the cities, states and the nation itself. We cannot be satisfied as long as the gun owner's basic mobility is limited within a small ghetto or a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their protection and robbed of their security by signs stating: "No Firearms". We cannot be satisfied as long as a lawful gun owner in Mississippi cannot carry a firearm and a lawful individual in New York believes he has no path to protection. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh victims from criminal attacks. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of political brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering.
Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to New York, go back to Illinois, go back to California, go back to Maryland, go back to Chicago, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that no lawful men shall have Second Amendment rights infringed.
I have a dream that one day on the raw streets of New York, the sons of former gun grabbers and the sons of former gun owners will be able to sit down together at the table of security from crime.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Maryland, a state sweltering with the heat of registration, sweltering with the heat of confiscation, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the criminals actions in their community but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in California, with its vicious rights
restricting gun grabbers, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "registration" and "restriction" -- one day right there in California little boy scouts and girl scouts will be able to learn firearms safety and marksmanship in an unrestricted world with security and without infringement.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the my home with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of criminal behavior a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the productive fields of Illinois.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening hills of Maryland.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring across every village and every hamlet, throughout every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when, protected by the Second Amendment, all of God's children and all lawful gun owners, of all religious beliefs, will have true security and be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, in Washington, D.C. He didn't give this speech...
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Eleven score years ago, great Americans, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, ratified the Bill of Rights. As it limited government in the name of human rights, this momentous decree comes as a great beacon light of hope to millions of citizens who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It comes as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their abuse and insecurity.
But two hundred twenty years later, law abiding citizens are still not free. Two hundred twenty years later, the life of citizens is still sadly crippled by the manacles of mistrust and the chains of executive orders. Two hundred twenty years later, the gun owner lives on a lonely island of security in the midst of a vast ocean of coddled criminals and mentally ill. Two hundred twenty years later, the gun owner is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights and its Second Amendment, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, gun owners as well as other citizens, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of personal security and "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given gun owners a bad check, a check which has come back marked "infringed upon rights."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient rights in the great vaults of security of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of violated human rights to the sunlit path of universal justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of constitutional attack to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the gun owner's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and security. This year is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the gun owner needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the legal gun owner is granted his rights without infringement. The whirlwinds of resistance will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting political force with electoral force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the gun owning community must not lead us to a distrust of all politicians, for many of our citizen brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking the devotees of gun rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the rightful gun owner is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of infringement and criminal brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our personal protection is burdened heavily with the fatigue of licensing and restriction that interferes with lawfully acquiring and carrying firearms and ammunition across borders of the cities, states and the nation itself. We cannot be satisfied as long as the gun owner's basic mobility is limited within a small ghetto or a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their protection and robbed of their security by signs stating: "No Firearms". We cannot be satisfied as long as a lawful gun owner in Mississippi cannot carry a firearm and a lawful individual in New York believes he has no path to protection. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh victims from criminal attacks. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of political brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering.
Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to New York, go back to Illinois, go back to California, go back to Maryland, go back to Chicago, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that no lawful men shall have Second Amendment rights infringed.
I have a dream that one day on the raw streets of New York, the sons of former gun grabbers and the sons of former gun owners will be able to sit down together at the table of security from crime.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Maryland, a state sweltering with the heat of registration, sweltering with the heat of confiscation, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the criminals actions in their community but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day, down in California, with its vicious rights
restricting gun grabbers, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "registration" and "restriction" -- one day right there in California little boy scouts and girl scouts will be able to learn firearms safety and marksmanship in an unrestricted world with security and without infringement.
I have a dream today!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together."
This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the my home with.
With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of criminal behavior a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.
With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:
My country 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.
And so let freedom ring from the productive fields of Illinois.
Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.
Let freedom ring from the heightening hills of Maryland.
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.
But not only that:
Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.
From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring across every village and every hamlet, throughout every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when, protected by the Second Amendment, all of God's children and all lawful gun owners, of all religious beliefs, will have true security and be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!