Men and women of the conservative movement:
All of the talk about independence, limited government, individual liberty is missing one key element.
We were not brought into this world in order to be independent of everyone and everything else.
We were not brought into this world in order to take care of ourselves by ourselves.
In fact, we are not independent of ourselves in any way shape, or form.
Liberty means nothing without security, just as life without meaning has no sense to it, nor any respectable precedent.
In short, we are not the center of our own little universes.
It was and never is and never will be about us twenty-four seven.
Indeed, we are all called to be dependent on something, on someone, on somewhere.
The Truth sets us free, which means that we cannot believe in anything that we want to believe in and expect to have any life or liberty in our lives unless we base our lives on what is true.
Every human being has the opportunity to embrace life and that more abundantly through Christ. We can have perfect rest and respect and resources in one Person — Jesus!
We are not called to live completely isolated. Not at all.
We are not called to be dependent on the state, or to depend on other people, for that matter:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man, who makes flesh his arm." (Jeremiah 17: 5)
There are many conservative voices who cry out their faith in God, yet they live their lives as if everything depends on them. This mixed message diminishes the awesome grace and power of God, who gave us His own, and He will freely give us all things with Him (Romans 8: 31-32)
We are called to be dependent, on God, not on the state.
But we are called to be dependent, no doubt about it.
The Declaration of Independence was a break from the British Empire, and a reintegration with the Divine Creator. Unfortunately, if men and women do not see God as Savior, they will inevitably "acknowledge God", but depend on someone or something that they can see.
The qualification that I share with conservatives and libertarians, the impulse which liberals understand, yet seek to answer on their own — people do need to be dependent, but they need to be dependent on the Truth which sets us free, not on the state which ends up bringing bondage, neither security nor liberty.