In his introduction to The Rights of the
Colonists by Samuel Adams in 1772, Benjamin Franklin recorded some thoughts
that apply well today:
All
accounts of the discontent so general in our colonies have of late years been
industriously smothered and concealed here; it seeming to suit the views of the
American minister [Lord Hillsborough], to have it understood that by his great
abilities all faction was subdued, all opposition suppressed, and the whole
country quieted.
That
the true state of affairs there may be known, and the true causes of that
discontent well understood, the following piece (not the production of a
private writer, but the unanimous act of a large American city), lately printed
in New England, is republished here. This nation, and the other nations of
Europe, may thereby learn, with more certainty, the grounds of a dissension
that possibly may, sooner or later, have consequences interesting to them all.
One could easily paraphrase Franklin’s words
as follows:
All
accounts of the discontent so general in our nation have of late years been
industriously smothered and concealed here; it seeming to suit the views of the
American President, to have it understood that by his great abilities all
faction was subdued, all opposition suppressed, and the whole country quieted.
That
the true state of affairs there may be known, and the true causes of that
discontent well understood, the following piece lately blogged is republished
here. This nation, and the other nations of the world, may thereby learn, with
more certainty, the grounds of a dissension that possibly may, sooner or later,
have consequences interesting to them all.
In his treatise, Adams asserted,
Among
the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life;
Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support
and defend them in the best manner they can. These are evident branches of, rather
than deductions from, the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first
law of nature.
All
men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they please; and in
case of intolerable oppression, civil or religious, to leave the society they
belong to, and enter into another.
When
men enter into society, it is by voluntary consent; and they have a right to
demand and insist upon the performance of such conditions and previous
limitations as form an equitable original compact.
Every
natural right not expressly given up, or, from the nature of a social compact,
necessarily ceded, remains. [emphasis mine]
All
positive and civil laws should conform, as far as possible, to the law of
natural reason and equity.
As
neither reason requires nor religion permits the contrary, every man living in
or out of a state of civil society has a right peaceably and quietly to worship
God according to the dictates of his conscience. [emphasis mine]
"Just
and true liberty, equal and impartial liberty," in matters spiritual and
temporal, is a thing that all men are clearly entitled to by the eternal and
immutable laws of God and nature, as well as by the law of nations and all
well-grounded municipal laws, which must have their foundation in the former.
.
. . The
natural liberty of man, by entering into society, is abridged or restrained, so
far only as is necessary for the great end of society, the best good of
the whole. [emphasis mine]
In
the state of nature men may, as the patriarchs did, employ hired servants for
the defence [sic], of their lives, liberties, and property; and they should pay
them reasonable wages. Government was instituted for the purposes of common
defence [sic], and those who hold the reins of government have an equitable,
natural right to an honorable support from the same principle that "the
laborer is worthy of his hire." But then the same community which they
serve ought to be the assessors of their pay. Governors have no right to seek
and take what they please; by this, instead of being content with the station
assigned them, that of honorable servants of the society, they would soon
become absolute masters, despots, and tyrants. [emphasis mine]
When it was incorporated by Thomas Jefferson
into the Declaration of Independence, the rights of citizens were cited as,
“Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
Adams asserted that natural rights remained
with citizens and were to be honored by the government. The most basic right is
self-preservation. Further, he noted that personal property could not be taken
from people without their consent.
For a government to attempt to disarm
citizens is to deny both the right of self-preservation and the right to retain
their property. When the 2nd Amendment was written in to the
Constitution, it codified the natural right to keep and bear arms.
Adams warned that public servants (and
elected officials of government could not take what they wanted from the
population lest they become “absolute masters, despots and tyrants.”
Today the Obama administration, Congress and
the Supreme Court has forgotten this basic fact of history and, in fact, are
all becoming despots and tyrants dictating what they think is right rather
than acknowledging the natural rights of citizens.
One of those natural rights, tolerance for
worship in its many expressions, is also encoded into the Constitution in the
form of the 1st Amendment. Increasingly, the administration is
denying citizens and especially military members the right to practice their
faith.
Adams cites the writing of John Locke, saying
“Insomuch that Mr. Locke has asserted and proved, beyond the possibility of
contradiction on any solid ground, that such toleration ought to be extended to
all whose doctrines are not subversive of society. “
Efforts by the Muslim Brotherhood has undue
influence with the federal government to challenge, threaten, and oppose the
practice of the Christian and Jewish religions is subversive to American culture.
Atheists as well are practicing their
non-faith in a supreme deity by “worming” their way into governmental
decision-making on religious grounds and a faux equality and fairness platform.
Spineless military leaders and politicians
are laying down our natural rights without protest.
If we truly love this country and want to see
it continue for our children and their children, we must speak out and demand
cessation of these insidious attacks on the culture of America.