FREEDOM

What does it mean to YOU?

If you stand outside and ask random strangers what Freedom means to them, the answers you get will be as varied as the people you ask. But undoubtedly, it will include the phrase"...whatever I want". Whatever I want...an interesting concept. The freedom to do, say, think, go, see, BE...whatever I want.

That's huge. That's what this place is...Freedom. Freedom is more than a catchy title or a flashy name...it's a concept. It's an ideal. It's a belief in something...something that should be dear to every one of us. Something that should be held in it's highest regard for all that it is worth. Something that should be believed in and reached for. Without freedom...what do we have?

I believe in Freedom. I believe in maintaining the ability to do, say, think and be whatever I want. I believe in reaching for MY goals, striving for MY dreams, and achieving MY heart's deepest desires. I believe in speaking my mind, speaking MY truth, to anyone willing to listen. I believe in exchanging ideas, concepts, opinions, and stories without worrying about whom I might offend, or who might be watching me...waiting to delete my statements because they don't agree with me, or chastise me publicly because my opinion is different than their own.

Do you believe in Freedom? I assume you do...or else you wouldn't be here. So Welcome to Freedom!!! But there's a catch...

Freedom isn't free. Freedom is costly. In the U.S....we have freedom. And in order to have that freedom, we have paid dearly. We have paid with lives and we have paid with money...and we have paid dearly. Some of our youngest, brightest, and most hopeful Stars have been taken from us in the name of Freedom. And we owe them...

Freedom Reptiles gives us Freedom. No one here is going to die in the name of Freedom Reptiles, and no one here is going to go into eternal debt paying the price of admission. But it is still costly. We still owe...

Responsibility. THAT is the cost of THIS Freedom. Responsibility to ourselves, to each other, to the owners of this site, and to our hobby and culture. We all have a common thread here...we love reptiles. That in and of itself is enough to bring us together. But we owe. We owe our responsibility and our respect.

I don't have to agree with you to respect you. I don't even have to LIKE you to respect you. I don't have to agree with or like what you say to give you the respect and validity that your opinion deserves. I don't have to even KNOW you to take responsibility for my own words, and carefully choose the statements I want to make. Responsibility is a small price to pay.

There are lots of reptile forums on the World Wide Web. There are forums with MANY more mebers than we currently have here. In fact...the variety of forums available to us as herp-hobbyists is virtually unlimited, and the atmosphere of each one will be different from the next. But there is only one Freedom.

I love this place. There is nothing I want more than to see this forum grow to reach it's full potential. In order for that to happen...we ALL need to pay our admission price. We ALL need to display the respect, responsibility and the Honour that true Soldiers of Freedom will have in their hearts.

I respect each and every member of this community. As such, I will take responsibility for every action I do, and every word that type in this forum. I will hold myself accountable to my own highest standards for everything I say and do on this forum. That is my responsibility...my Price of Admission. Will you? I know you will...

Let Freedom Ring!!

Written by Chris Morrison