December 23, 1776

"THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value."

The new country was in crisis when these words were written by Thomas Paine just before Christmas, 1776. WE had decided to become a union of states, and it wasn't going well. Washington's army had been defeated in battle and the British fleet and Redcoat army seemed invincible, but in the end, we prevailed and the greatest nation on earth was formed from the wealth, sweat, and blood of patriots who knew what was good, and believed in the cause.

Today, it's not an army in red coats that attacks us on the field of battle, it's an army of red thought that invades our entertainment, our schools, our government, our labor organizations, and even our churches. They are using ignorance and the inherent goodness of people to deceitfully secure power and oppress individual freedoms in some trumped-up name of fairness and impartiality.

Once again the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot are being challenged to rise to the cause. Will we have the courage to speak out against the attacks from within? Will we risk unpopularity to expose the truth of what's happening in our country?

A new form of tyranny awaits those who go along to get along.