"Then They Came For Me"

As we approach the Fourth of July, there will certainly be backyard picnics, parades, fireworks, and fun gatherings.

However, the real message of the 4th is about commemorating the ratification of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The second sentence of the Declaration is key, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness"

Those who read my posts now that our rights are in significant jeopardy.

** One-third (~) of us like the trajectory the country is going.
** One-third (~) is protesting for the 17 million people who will no longer have healthcare, who will increase our energy costs and pollute our national lands, along with so many more parts of the Big Bill.
** One-third (~) has no opinion or doesn't know what's happening.

When we think about the Fourth of July, please remember that any of us could be in harms way. We have to take our country back and make it better. Our first stop is to call swing state Congressmen and Congresswomen, even if they're not yours.

My thesis at Northwestern University was about how theater could present the horrors of the Holocaust. Pastor Martin Niemöller's "First They Came" has been ringing in my head. I hope it will ring in your head as well.

"First They Came" by Pastor Martin Niemöller

First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist
Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist
Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist
Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew
Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me

Peace