The Educated Patriot: The Courage To Be Free

June 18, 6:59 PMBoston Gun Rights ExaminerRon Bokleman

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Charlton Heston (October 4, 1923 – April 5, 2008)

These are the uncensored essays of a genuine American activist from the front lines of cultural war. Charlton Heston, perhaps America's most influential person never elected to political office, tells the hard truths of an America vanishing into the mist of memory - and how we can each muster the individual courage to bring her back. His "Ten Covenants of Courage" are specific steps each American can take, personally and in daily life, to preserve our precious freedoms. The Courage To Be Free is an inspiring read, an essential addition to any American's library.

The book is broken down into 12 chapters with a forward by Wayne LaPierre and an appendix of selected speeches.

Charlton Heston speaks out on the underlying culture war that grips out Nation. He speaks out on topics like being an American, elitism, religion, tolerance, divisionism, his boyhood, hunting, gun rights, and most importantly personal courage. He offers in Chapter 12 what he calls the “Ten Covenants Of Courage” and they are worth reading.

Most of the basis for the book is focused on the culture war that we are engaged in, but wait, I thought we were at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, not here. Nothing could be further from the truth and Charlton Heston explains:

“The message from the cultural warlords is everywhere, delivered with the arrogant swagger of absolute confidence. Summarized, it is this: Heaven help the God-fearing, law-abiding, Caucasian, middle class, Protestant (or even worse evangelical) Christian, the midwestern or southern (or even worse rural) hunter, apparently straight or admitted heterosexual gun-owning (or even worse NRA-card-carrying) average working stiff, or even worse still male working stiff, because not only do you not count, you're a downright obstacle to social progress. Your tax dollars may be just as welcome and green as you hand them over, but your voice deserves no hearing, your opinion is not enlightened, your media access is virtually nil, and frankly mister, you need to wake up, wise up, and learn a little something about your new America. And until you do, why don't you just sit down and shut up!

Too many Americans are doing just that. That's why I'm here with a wake-up call.”

He continues with this definition of the culture war, perhaps you’ll be able to relate to it – perhaps you’re already a victim?

“Cultural warfare, while no less a transfer of power from one group to another, is for the most part seemingly painless. There are no tortured screams or bloody wounds, no limb-strewn nightmares to haunt a generation. In fact, cultural warlords seek to keep the battle from becoming bloody. Modern media fills the cultural airwaves with a mist of anesthesia, so that principles and values are slowly desensitized to the coming onslaught. The new culture arrives on the heels of this propaganda. It simply moves in and takes over, like slipping a fine new glove over a numbed hand. The outcome of the war is just as devastating, but without bombs bursting, twisted bodies to bury, or rubble to rebuild. A new class, a different culture, simply takes over.”

You might ask – who’s at war?

“Let me draw the distinctions in broad strokes. On one side, we have a rural society based on farming, with a belief in independent self-determination, individual initiative, and mutual trust. On the other side stands an urban culture in which the individual is subordinate to the group, where transience and congestion alienate man from the land and from his fellow man, where upheaval and social decay give way to crime and a climate of fear, and where many are satisfied to sacrifice essential liberty for the illusion of safety.

So who started the cultural war, and why? For the answer, meet me at the city limits. In almost every act of cultural war, it's there somewhere: the fight between the city boys and the country boys. Look past the facts and faces of issues under debate, and you'll see one party calmly chewing on a wheat stalk while the other is flip-phoning 911.”

And there you have it. This is an eye opening read and one that your library should not be without.

The question now is – Do you have the courage to be free?

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