4th of July & American Patriotism

<p>On this episode we talk about Patriotism, cover some brief history about America's Declaration of Independence, celebrated on the 4th of July and the uniqueness of our Founding Fathers vision and grand experiment that is the United States of America. While I would argue that the United States is one of the best places to live and I hope we all strive for the American ideals of freedom, liberty and justice... America has it's faults and successes but our ultimate allegiance should be to God.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>NOTES:</strong></p> <ul> <li>This Weeks Whiskey:<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></li> <li>Discussion Topics / NOTES:</li> <li style="list-style: none; display: inline;"> <ul> <li>Freedom and Liberty</li> <li>Patriotism and Christianity (where do our allegiances lie)</li> <li>Learning history is important - understanding how unique the grand experiment of the USA is</li> <li>Freedom - Is it all it's cracked up to be?</li> <li>“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 ESV</li> <li>Freedom is not the presence of restriction of the absence of restriction, but the presence of the right restrictions (e.g. if you take a fish out of its natural habitat and put it on land and tell it it’s free to do whatever it wants, the fish will die. Put the fish back in water and watch it thrive and show strength.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span> -Tim Keller</li> <li>Other example: if you eat whatever you want for a long period of time and it’s presumably bad for you, your doctor will tell you that you need to change your diet or suffer the consequences of eating bad, which could mean a shorter life.<span class= "Apple-converted-space"> </span></li> <li>The Federalist Papers</li> </ul> </li> <li>History overview of the 4th of July / American Independence</li> <li style="list-style: none; display: inline;"> <ul> <li>When the initial battles in the <a href= "http://www.history.com/topics/american-revolution/american-revolut