Family, we just returned from New Hampshire, one of the
smallest states in the Union geographically, but one of the
most powerful states we have ever visited. It's a part of
New England, which means it's a blue state, which is not
necessarily good, but it's got a spirit and spunk that
could easily make it a red state, if only the people would
get together and decide on it. Let me tell you why.

Recently, this year, the governor appointed a "Task Force
for the Recruitment and Retention of a Young Workforce for
the State of New Hampshire", obviously to try to find new
ways to encourage young marrieds to move to the state. The
task force came up with some ideas about how to bring
people into the state, but in doing so, they stepped on a
sacred cow. The state motto is "Live Free, or die." It's
a quote from a Revolutionary War hero, General John Stark,
who made the statement in 1809. The entire quotation from
General Stark was "Live Free or die. Death is not the
worst of evils." It's a bold statement, and the people of
New Hampshire have been proud to adopt it. It was
officially adopted as the state motto in 1945, at the
successful conclusion of World War II. It is displayed on
all entrances to the state, and on the license plates of
the cars. Or rather it was displayed until the Task Force
came up with their conclusions. They stated

"Our State portrays an unfriendly message that every
individual has to succeed on their own, rather than count
on a support system for assistance. Live free or die is
not a friendly, supporting message that appeals to young
people." Their recommendation was to change the state
motto to "You're going to love it here." Now, that's a
very nice thing to say, and it is true, anyone going to New
Hampshire will love it there. But, one of the main reasons
you will love New Hampshire is the spirit of the people.
Now, I will admit that they have been very lax lately. A
lot of liberals from Massachusetts and New York have moved
to New Hampshire, and gotten themselves elected into key
positions in the state. They sneaked in a lot of laws that
had people grumbling, like civil unions, and lately, gay
marriages, but by and large, the citizens thought to
themselves, "Well, it doesn't affect me. No big deal."
And isn't that the way it always is? We don't react, until
it hits us right smack in the face.

Well, the suggestion that the state motto be changed caused
an uproar which still has not subsided. The people rose up
against the suggestion, which had already been put into
effect. New signs were made up for the entrance to the
state from Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont. License
plates were going to be next. People began writing letters
and making phone calls to their elected officials, to the
governor's office, and the newspapers. I accessed a local
newspaper, the Union Leader, on the internet, to the
editorial page. One statement hit me in particular. It's
what I said above. "How soft we have become. That
ridiculous assessment (Governor's task force) is far from
the reaction had by Stark's fellow Bennington survivors
(Battle of Bennington) who wrote to him in 1810, 'The
toast, sir, which you sent us in 1809 will continue to
vibrate with unceasing pleasure in our ears.'" The
editorial ended with a simple phrase, "They only won us our
freedom. What do they know?"

It was followed by pages and pages of comments on the
audacity of those suggesting the change in the state's
motto. Mostly, it said, "Who gave them permission to
change our State Motto.? The overriding sentiment was "Who
are these people? They're probably not from New Hampshire.
They've snuck up from the south of us. How dare they try
to change our traditions?"

The long and short of it was that the change of the state's
motto was squashed almost immediately. The change was
voted on the beginning of July, 2009. We were there the
beginning of November, 2009, and it was all but over. It
was just a bad memory. We spoke of it at our conference on
Saturday, November 7th. We said "You people do have
strength. You can make change if the cause is something
you believe is just. Just think what you could do if you
joined together against abortion, or against all the
liberal politicians who have come into the state?"

We got a standing ovation. New Hampshire rose up against
the powers from out of state to maintain some of their
values. We pray they will do the same for really important
issues in the future.

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Bob and Penny Lord are renowned Catholic authors and
television hosts on EWTN, Global Catholic television. They
are prolific writers about the Catholic faith, especially
the Saints for which they have been dubbed "experts on the
Saints." Their website is http://www.bobandpennylord.com

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