The purpose of this post? To encourage you to vote. Do you have a family? Are there people you care about? Will this election affect them? What are the big issues for the family? That is what this post is about.

The Prince William – Manassas Family Alliance is an affiliate of The Family Foundation. On their website they list the five Issues that concern them.

• LIFE
• MARRIAGE
• RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
• PARENTAL AUTHORITY
• CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT

Instead of rewriting what is already well-written, I suggest you read those five webpages.

Then contemplate the purpose of government.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. –That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, (from here)

The Continental Congress approved these words over two centuries ago. They understood that our government exists to make it possible for us to live in peace with each other, not to run our lives. When our government tries to run our lives, it threatens our Rights to Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness.

Consider also the First Amendment.

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

When America approved the Bill of Rights, the People were adamant about protecting each others rights by restraining the power of the government to its proper functions. We need to contemplate what they did and why they did what they did. We also need to recover some of their fervor for Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.