Remembering Magna Carta

On this date in 1215 in a riverside meadow known as Runnymede alongside the River Thames, just about twenty miles outside of London, England, King John put his seal to the Magna Carta. The great charter was an agreement between the king and rebel barons, which placed limits on the power of the king and granted certain liberties and rights to the churches and barons. Though the significance and relevance of this charter to modern times is hotly debated by scholars, it continues to stand as a symbol of human rights and liberty for the ages. So, I say, celebrate the signing of Magna Carta today in whatever way you see fit (ice cream is always appropriate, particularly with temperatures forecast to reach 105 degrees in Salt Lake City today), remembering that freedom is never free and requires constant vigilance and diligence to renew, protect, strengthen, and expand for our own benefit and also in order to bequeath its priceless legacy to our posterity.