Disneyland/Disneyworld loves to describe itself as being the "happiest place on earth," whether it really is that thing or not, depends, of course, on the eye of the beholder. What is somewhat surprising is that Disneyland since 1965 has offered a wonderful tribute to Abraham Lincoln, known as "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln". Although, the show has not run continuously at Disneyland since then, as it has been on hiatus from time-to-time, as well as some of the elements and words of the show being transformed or changed over time, and of course the audio-animatronics of Mr. Lincoln has improved considerably over the years, Mr. Lincoln is currently performing at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA.
What makes this attraction especially poignant and meaningful, is that it's at a theme park, to which most theme parks make it their mission to provide entertainment, and seldom even consider such words as patriotism, country, equality, and liberty, whereas these are the main themes of the Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. This is, in fact, patriotism at its absolute finest, not the pathetic definition of patriotism as being solely the love for one's country, for better or for worse, but patriotism that envelops protecting our country's true liberties and rights with vigor as well as with passion.
The speech that Lincoln makes in the show is an amalgamation of four speeches from Lincoln's life, with the overarching theme of the speech being the meaning of the word, liberty. Lincoln makes sure to remind us that true liberty doesn't rest on mere paper, even paper as sacred as our Declaration of Independence, but that liberty is that "…which God has planted in our bosoms," and that the greatest fear that America should have, is not the fear of being conquered from without, but the fear of being conquered from within, from a nation that descends into lawless abandon, into mob law, into corrupt law, and the consequences therewith. That therefore, each man within this great nation has a sacred and noble obligation to live up to the precepts that our Declaration proclaimed, and that to thereby violate these precepts, will in essence, be a collective suicide of the peoples and their liberty in America.
Lincoln states that we need to "… have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it." This is the clarion call from our greatest President to all American citizens, that the liberty that we seek, the liberty that we love, is written in the hearts and minds of each man, that nothing will ever wrest this liberty away from us, except our own turning away from the foundational fabric of America, such as, its Declaration of Independence, its Constitution, its rule and respect of law, to which, should we forsake liberty, we shall find that a house divided will not stand. However, united together with one abiding vision that all are created equal, all are treated fairly, and all are entitled to righteous liberty, than we will find that even the gates of hell shall not prevail against us.