Is America still the land of the free and the home of the brave? Do we really live up to those words from our national anthem?

For a few years now, columnist George Will has been writing about how rulemaking-obsessed governments at all levels are creating an infantilized citizenry. In a recent column, he provides some of the most absurd examples of 2015.

Some are probably more interesting for their absurdity than their impact on our liberty, which our founders declared an "inalienable right." Yes, we are concerned that a student was sent home from school because her Wonder Woman lunch box was deemed to portray a violent character. The school threw out common sense the way an 8-year-old throws out a pack of spinach chips.

Of more concern, however, are trends such as one Will notes — "the property that police departments seized through civil asset forfeiture — usually without accusing, let alone convicting, the property owners of a crime."

The issue revolves around the idea that the government can and should make laws against literally thousands of things people do, some, admittedly bad. Too often, however, the burden of the law falls on the innocent. Should people who need a certain legal nasal decongestant be inconvenienced so another person cannot buy enough of it to make meth?

But at what point do we stop taking away freedoms of law-abiding citizens in order to lessen the chance that others will break the law? Can we police every possible bit of misconduct? Do we want to? How does that play out in the "land of the free?"

And then there is that great phrase, "home of the brave."

For years and years, politicians of all stripes have preyed on the fears of Americans. It remains true today. As one observer put it recently, why is the most powerful nation on earth, the nation that defeated Nazi Germany and stared down the Soviet Union with its thousands of nuclear warheads aimed at us until it wilted, quaking over ISIS?

Sure, the so-called Islamic State is a threat that must be extinguished, but shouldn't we keep the threat in its proper perspective and not be so willing to surrender our freedoms and our values in the face of what journalist Ryan Cooper in "The Week" called "a few thousand men with a messianic complex driving around in pickup trucks."

Compare that to a previous enemy, the Soviet Union, which "was a massive industrialized state with cutting-edge science and technology," Cooper continues.

In 2016, even more fear-mongering will be on display. We plan to fortify ourselves by ensuring that when we call ourselves "the land of the free ... the home of the brave" we are not taking those words lightly We believe those words still ring true. We just hope our leaders and all Americans will act like it more often.

REPRINTED FROM THE JACKSONVILLE DAILY NEWS

Photo credit: Ted Eytan