Introducing: The Freedom Pledge
May 22nd 2002
Intended for use every day and particularly for Memorial Day, JPFO introduces The Freedom Pledge:
I pledge my honor to the Bill of Rights, our precious national treasure.
As the Bill is a fortress against tyranny, I will battle all tyrants.
As the Bill protects liberty, I will live free.
As the Bill guards rights born within all humanity, I will defend the freedoms of future generations.
With my life, my words, and my daily deeds, with a vision of what can be, I honor all of the Bill of Rights for all mankind.
HOW TO USE THIS PLEDGE
The Freedom Pledge was written to be recited at the openings of meetings or classes, or as a personal pledge at the beginning of every day.
It is not intended to replace the pledge of allegiance to the flag. We humbly encourage you to begin including The Freedom Pledge in your meetings after the pledge of allegiance or alternating with it.
WHY DO WE NEED A SECOND PLEDGE?
When you pledge to the flag, you are pledging to a national symbol. The pledge is grand, stately, and carries the weight of tradition. But think of those final words "with liberty and justice for all." What ensures liberty and justice? What actually makes America the land of the free?
The Bill of Rights.
When our fighting men go off to war, they’re defending our way of life and our traditions, which are defined in the Bill of Rights. When terrorists attack us, they are assaulting our beloved rights. The flag is the symbol, but the Bill of Rights is the source. It is the document that confirms that individual rights were born within us and existed before any nation or flag on earth. It defines abuses no government must ever be allowed to commit and rights no honest government would ever violate.
To the degree that we personally adhere to the Bill of Rights and demand that our governments do so, we are free. To the degree that we violate the Bill or tolerate violations of it, we’re on the road to tyranny.
RE-ESTABLISHING A BILL OF RIGHTS CULTURE
We also wanted to make a pledge that reminds us all that we have a daily responsibility to live free as well as to wish, speak, and fight for liberty.
We have written before about the need to re-establish a Bill of Rights Culture in America (See "The Last of the BOHICANS". Until we accomplish that, our political battles -- especially for the Second Amendment -- are going to be fruitless. Until people understand what liberty is and why we must cherish it, they will continue to think of government as a limitless source of goodies and a powerful tool for controlling or punishing political opponents -- and freedom will be doomed.
In restoring a Bill of Rights culture, the first hearts and minds we must win are those of our children. So the pledge is intended for adults and youngsters alike. We urge you to make the little ones in your family "Bill of Rights Buddies"-- beginning with daily recitations of the pledge.
By making the pledge a part of our daily lives and our cultural memory, we take one small but important step toward restoration of a true Bill of Rights culture.
WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH THIS PLEDGE
- Make copies of it and take them to the next event in which people take a public pledge. You can use this alert as a handout, if you wish. Lead the group in The Freedom Pledge after the recitation of the pledge to the flag.
- Teach the pledge to the children in your family and say it with them daily. Post a copy of it in their bedrooms, playrooms or home-school rooms.
- Put the pledge where you can see and recite it each morning. Don’t wait for Bill of Rights day on December 15.
- Live the words of the pledge every day and discover within yourself and within your country a new commitment to the heart and spirit of liberty.
The Freedom Pledge and the entire contents of this article are © 2002 Aaron Zelman, JPFO. Permission is granted to distribute this article in its entirety, so long as full copyright and contact information is given for JPFO.
Permission is also granted to reproduce the pledge alone. When reproducing the pledge by itself, it would be appropriate to include the line –
"The Freedom Pledge was created by Aaron Zelman and Claire Wolfe for Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership. To learn more about how you can defend the Bill of Rights, go to http://jpfo.org.". Visit the Bill of Rights Index Page.
Published by:
Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership, Inc. P.O. Box 270143 Hartford, WI 53027