The holidays; a time to reflect and give thanks

The holidays are upon us. This year, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah fell on the same day; Christmas and New Year’s are fast approaching. The strain of holiday shopping at crowded malls, the endless parties, even the worry about what to serve guests or what gift to give a particularly persnickety relative often obscure the underlying message of the holiday season.

Today, most of us celebrate the holidays in warm, safe homes surrounded by family and friends, confident that we are secure and our liberties are inviolate.

Our God-given freedoms, first recognized in the Declaration of Independence which...