We are no longer free to exercise our gifts and talents. More and more the Federal Government limits how and when and where we may labour. Licensing laws, labour regulations, minimum wage legislation, unemployment taxes, social security taxes, union standards, federal health and safety regulations, racial quotas, anti‑discrimination legislation, environmental regulations, and a well‑nigh endless host of others laws, fees, prohibitions, limitations, regulations, and specifications, severely restrict the exercise of God‑given gifts and abilities.

            Need I mention that by means of the income tax, the Federal Government has claimed the right to the fruit of our labours. By it, the Federal government exalts itself over God (by claiming more than God does in the tithe).

            We have seen how this is in fact a claim on all the livelihood of an individual. Tax exemptions are now viewed as ‘subsidies.’ The argument is, to be granted a tax exemption is the same as being given a subsidy. The implication is that all your income belongs to the National Government and the Government could take it all should it so desire, but by means of tax exemptions, it graciously allows you to keep some of your earnings.

            In education: certification, accreditation, and educational standards set by Federal bureaucrats continue to limit educational freedom. The Government continues to view the children as belonging to itself by asserting a ‘compelling interest’ in this or that aspect of our children's upbringing.

            Freedom of religion has come to mean ‘freedom to believe whatever you want, so long as you do not act in a way contrary to public policy.’ Practically this means, our freedom of religion has been confined to the space between our ears.

            We have now lived to see what our Founding Fathers thought impossible in this land. The Congress regularly legislates immorality, lines its own pockets, makes decisions based upon self‑ interest rather than upon what is right and best and then brags about its public‑spirited generosity and compassion.

            We live in a country where the Constitution has no more real authority than the Royal Family in England . We like to be able to refer to it and trot it out on patriotic occasions, but we have no desire to take it seriously and find those who would suggest that we should, fearfully flatheaded.

            We live in a land in which the people expect the government to protect them and provide for them and secure their futures. We have not freed the slaves, we have simply extended the plantation. Now, we are all slaves, captives to our liberators.

            We think we are free only because we have never known true freedom. Like it or not, all this is the legacy of the South's defeat. Thus, the question of who was right in the old struggle is not so hard to answer after all. Look around you. Do you like what you see? If not, you have answered the question in my favor.