Part I: Government
American Principle Five
Liberty--From Oppression By Big Government
and Nongovernment Authoritarians--Is Vital
"… unalienable Rights, that among these are … liberty."
Declaration of Independence
"Liberty and life are the gratuitous gifts of heaven. I shall certainly be excused from adducing any formal arguments to evince, that life, and whatever is necessary for the safest of life, are the natural rights of man. Some things are so difficult; others are so plain, that they cannot be proved" (Supreme Court Justice James Wilson, Lectures, delivered in the College of Philadelphia, 1790-1791).
Liberty, in the context of the Declaration of Independence and Preamble to the Constitution, means freedom from government activity that would undermine the development of citizen self-reliance. Not only must those in the judicial branch of government support the meaning and intent of the Constitution for God-honoring education curriculum, the people's money should not be used to buy political advantage. When politicians continually manage to have welfare payments given to healthy people when jobs remain available, they are promoting a growing block of dependent citizens within the population. Once reduced to dependence on government, the fiscal and sociological consequences to society become permanent. These people soon figure out that by electing liberals, they can become work-free. Helping those who are incapable for reasons beyond their control is, of course, man's duty and beneficial to all.
"Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are a gift of God? That they are not violated but with His wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that His justice cannot sleep forever" (Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia Q.XVIII, 1782. ME 2:227). Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States.
The Constitution, starting with We the people, was designed to identify and remove authoritarian cheats from power in government. Many of those cheats remain unpunished, but, in the recent past, one president of the United States was forced to resign because of dishonest claims. Another president was required to testify before a citizen grand jury and later found to be guilty of perjury (telling lies under oath) and obstruction of justice, and was impeached by the House of Representatives. This only works when all men are equal in the sight of God and the law, and when the laws reflect justice.
Leaders are important, but leaders must be held accountable to the judgment of the people.
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