Written by Debora Cooper                                                       

I have a mental picture that has haunted me for months. It is a picture of a picture that I saw for the first time when I was a 9 year old child. A picture that was in my third grade history book.Heres the picture.

 It is the first Colonies that later formed Americia.JOIN-OR-DIE But what really made this stand out in my mind through all these years was not the History lesson.It was an incident that happened the following summer.
 

I'm from the south, the southern U.S.A.. That summer my Daddy killed a snake, but there was something unusal about this snake. My Father gathered all of us children together to teach us what it was.You see you could cut this snake up in two or three parts, then leave it along and it would go back together. Actually heal itself. No matter how many times it was cut apart it would do this. The only way to kill this snake was to keep the parts, apart till the sun went down, then it could nolonger heal itself.
 

Then in my little nine year old mind, I understood what that picture meant. If the British had of succeeded to keep those colonies apart and not helping each other the British would have won. They would be able to kill the patriots and take over.Did that happen no. The Patriots joined together. It did'nt matter how many times they were seperated, they always came back together for the common goal.That it was better to fight and die a free man, than to bow and be a slave.

 In Richmond, on March 23rd, 1775, during a stormy session of the Virginia legislature, Patrick Henry, a fiery orator and outspoken Patriot, spoke boldly; "THERE IS NO RETREAT BUT IN SUBMISSION IN SLAVERY, OUR CHAINS ARE FORMED, THEIR CLANKING MAY BE HEARD IN THE PLAINS OF BOSTON. THE WAR IS INEVITABLE, AND LET IT COME ... I REPEAT SIR, LET IT COME ... I KNOW NOT WHAT COURSE OTHERS MAY TAKE, BUT FOR ME, GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH:"

 We have alot of people today calling themselves Patriots. Yelling we are ready to take on our oppressors. Take a good look at them.What are they saying. Are they telling you to be afraid?Are they afraid? Hiding their identities,because they are afraid of Government tracking them. Do you remember the ride of  Paul Revere and William Dawes galloping from farmhouse to farmhouse, alerting the Patriots of approaching danger. 
 " Yelling the British are coming, the British are coming." What if Paul had been afraid? Had thought that he should for personal safety just keep his mouth shut.Go and hide and just hope they did'nt find him. And if they did he could just go along with them, and he would live.

 Are you being told to pick up your guns and get ready to march on Washington? American Captain John Parker issued this order to his men: "STAND YOUR GROUND, DON'T FIRE UNLESS FIRED UPON, BUT IF THEY MEAN TO HAVE A WAR, THEN LET IT BEGIN HERE.' They did not start the war. they just stood their ground, and then finished it. Becareful of whom you place your alliance.

 True Patriots are totally consumed by valor, bravery, sacrifice and proud determination, to stand for the libertys and inalienable rights
that were given to them by God.
 The true Patriots of yesterday did not keep their mouths shut. Did not worry about their image, or what people thought about them.
They stood up to ensure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all future generations of Americans.Even this generation you are in now.

 They were at the courts and at the meetings. They did'nt just sit back and say "It will do us no good to fight back, there are not enough of us".  " No they stood up for theirs and others freedom.Why? Maybe they knew that tyranny starts with a single action.
 What has happened to America? People stopped standing their ground.
It became easier to just go along with the system. They became afraid.And started thinking,I need to keep my mouth shut, for my own safety or my own popularity. 

 And the apathy set in.How many don't want to vote, because after all they will just rig the ballots and put in who they want. How many talk to their neighbors and say "We need to stand together and not comply with this law that was just passed, because it infringes on our rights"
 Instead they do nothing and then complain about how things are going. And because they have an oppinion that is against the Government. They call themselves a Patriot.

 A true Patriot is a Patriot from within. It is their existence to stand , protect and defend America from the clutches of tyranny; be it from our adversaries on the outside of our national perimeter, or from the more inconspicuous elements within. 

 
 Do you  see an enemy,  chopping us apart? Trying to keep us apart until the sun goes down? Til  the darkness sets in?

 That snake didn't just lay there. It struggled really hard to get it's parts back together. You could push a part back and it would start wiggling and pushing to get back. No matter how many times it was pushed it did not stop fighting to get it's parts together. It was fighting for it's very existence.
 
It's time we fought for ours. The sun is starting to set. Are you a true Patriot?
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