Freedom

It’s time for us – for "we the people" – to embrace our God-given blessings, our country, and freedom. We cannot take our freedoms for granted, become complacent, or think we’re too sophisticated for flag-waving or old-fashioned, hand-on-heart patriotism. It's time to celebrate the United States of America without remorse, to honor opportunity without shame, to applaud success without guilt, and to glorify freedom without hesitation.

In the 1960s, I made a speech across the nation that I called "Selling America." It was at a time when Castro took over Cuba and a tidal wave of discontent swept over the young people of America. The capitalist system was being condemned and communism promoted as the wave of the future. "Selling America" was my response to the critics of democratic capitalism. Looking back, my optimism was justified.

Today, my wife Helen and I are looking forward to the opening of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on July 4, 2003. We are proud citizens of the United States and praise God for this great country and its many blessings. We can’t help but marvel at the Constitution, at the citizenship it created, the opportunities it offers, and the strongly moral, Judeo-Christian base from which it was conceived.

If we believe in liberty and justice for all, and in the power of our free enterprise system, we must preserve the intent of the men who expressed our freedoms in the Constitution and the inalienable human rights that flow from the Laws of Nature - and Nature's God - as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Today, we're again waving our flag in the name of freedom. Our challenge is never to forget this rare blessing or become complacent. If we forget our freedoms - even one of them - we lose everything.

If you're interested, there is more information about:
The most important event of all time and
The most important Book of all time.

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Rich DeVos is vice-chairman of Gospel Communications. He is also the author of "Hope From My Heart: Ten Lessons for Life," co-founder of Amway Corp., and owner and chairman of the NBA's Orlando Magic.