Many Died Hard, so that I could Live Free

Many people died hard, so that I could live freely.

Both politically and religiously, I am completely free to be or believe whatever I want because men and women sacrificed their lives in grotesque ways I’ll never know.

As a Christian, white, American male, I have a lot to be thankful for because of the vast array of opportunity afforded to me. While I believe the opportunities I am offered today ought to be offered to everyone, I was not always so priviledged.

My roots stem all the way back to ancient Jews. The Jewish faith, after all, was what gave birth to Christianity. Without Judaism, there is no Jesus. Jews have been persecuted for centuries. They were the first group of people to adopt monotheism, when polytheistic pagan religions ruled the world. The fact that Judaism still exists today is proof that this religious sect remained firm over centuries of persecution, standing the test of time as the great empires of the world’s history rose and fell. They faced persecution from many empires, including the Roman, the greatest empire the world has ever seen, and were sometimes tortured for their faith. Yet today we have Jews and Christians all over the world because my ancient ancestors held firmly to their faith in the face of horrible persecution, even to the point of death.

Judaism gave birth to Christianity, which has also had its fair share of persecution. We know that Christians too were persecuted by the Roman Empire, especially by Emperor Nero. Almost all of the twelve disciples who walked with Jesus suffered a horrific martyrs death. Yet just like Judaism, Christianity has stood the test of time.

America has only been around for roughly 300 years, yet in this short time she has seen her share of bloodshed. Fleeing from religious persecution in England and Europe, our ancestors fled to the New World, America, so that they could practice religion freely. To protect our freedom, hundreds of thousands of Americans were slaughtered on and off of the battlefields via the Revolutionary and Civil wars. These men and women died hard just so that I could live free.

Therefore the old adage, “Freedom isn’t free” rings true. Without Jewish, Christian, and American martyrs dying hard, I would not live freely. I will forever be grateful and thankful for my ancestors.

~Z