"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted . . . "
Excerpt, The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, in Congress, July 4, 1776.
There is a debate in the United States about legally sanctioned torture of human beings. There is a debate in the United States about imprisoning human beings indefinitely without due process. There is a debate in the United States about the extent to which the government can violate the privacy of citizens without due process. The debate has heightened in the past week in response to President Obama's executive orders and official statements which signal an eventual end or signficant restrictions to these issues of human rights.
Fear, cowardice, ignorance and laziness have caused us to forget who we are.
We are Created. Not by any government. We can debate and believe differently about who or what did the creating. But there is no debate that the individual existed before this government or any other was created. That notion was a pillar in the foundation of our declaration of independence and our constitution.
Our fear has caused us to forget. The rights of the individual so highly proclaimed by the Declaration and embodied in the Bill of Rights were supposed to be inalienable. For all. No mention of nationality. They are acquired by being Created. Inalienable.
We have become so twisted, so far from the bold experiment launched by that small band of visionaries in 1776. Government had no rights to give. They were already given. Government's only purpose was to preserve these rights. When it fails to do so, allegiance to that government should be dissolved. Treasonous? Revolutionary? Sure. But that's what we were about when we started.
I go along with Patrick Henry. Life without liberty is hardly a life worth living.
It is ironic that so many in our country that desire a "Christian nation," are some of the most vocal in support of these violation of human rights. Forgotten is the message of 1st John 4:18,
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
Idealistic? No doubt. But we who find God through Jesus are called to that ideal.
Do you really believe that when Jesus was holding the Roman coin in his hand and said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's," that He was advocating giving Caesar anything?
No, in typical Jesus fashion, He was saying to us that the question is important and one for which we are accountable. What do we turn over to Caesar? What do we turn over to God?
Security? Caesar or God?
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I'm in total agreement. The idea of this nation torturing sickens me. The lack of habeas also bothers me. Surprisingly, some of the best arguments I've seen recently (probably because they come from humor shows, which aren't supposed to be serious) are these from Colbert and Jon Stewart:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/215998/january-19-2009/the-word---sacrifice
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=216560&title=gitmos-world-death-to-america
The Colbert one is especially good.
If I remember correctly, Thomas Jefferson thought that a revolution was beneficial every 200 years of a country's life.
ReplyDeleteWhat really gets me about the whole security thing is that often people pick and choose... when they feel the nation is doing right, we place our trust in our nation. When we feel God is a safer bet, we side with our God.
The same people who argue for the government's ability to give/take rights are the same people who want God to rain fire on America for actually using that ability in other arenas of life
And in all of it we've forgotten Jesus.
At least some folks have little to no contradiction in their thinking--I admire that. for example, the groups that stand for 'pro-life' are so very consistent in their stance. they proclaim the sanctity of life in unborn babies (and rightly so), so they obviously are crying out against torture and firmly stand against the death penalty...because of the sanctity of all human life...right?
ReplyDeleteLet me take all that back. I should say, "at least we have Jim-Bob, and people like him. that gives me hope"