Sinlessness

In 1791, when the Bill of Rights was ratified, America was even more fundamentalist Christian then it is today. Gratefully, in the United States the majority does not rule. The rights of each individual trump the will of the majority. Chief Justice Roberts said it best during his conformation hearing, [9/13/2005]:

Mr. Chairman, when I worked in the Department of Justice, in the office of the solicitor general, it was my job to argue cases for the United States before the Supreme Court…I always found it very moving to stand before the justices and say, I speak for my country…But it was after I left the department and began arguing cases against the United States that I fully appreciated the importance of the Supreme Court and our constitutional system…Here was the United States, the most powerful entity in the world, aligned against my client. And, yet, all I had to do was convince the court that I was right on the law and the government was wrong and all that power and might would recede in deference to the rule of law…That is a remarkable thing.

The Bill of Rights is there to protect minority opinions and life-styles, not to preserve something the conservatives call traditional family values, i.e. Christian values. Conservatives across the country actively endorse state house legislation against [what they consider] “sin,” e.g. same sex marriage, physician assisted suicide, [and in my adopted home town] drinking beer on Sunday. They think they are working to preserve American culture and tradition when in fact their efforts are a criminal violation of the rights of individuals to choose their own thinking. Social conservatives win often, not because they are right, but because most people are dead wrong.

My only consolation is that I know in time every one of their efforts to restrict individual liberty will be overturned by some future, enlightened generation. It is my goal as an educator [and a blogger] to recover as many sovereign individuals as possible from the muck of the collectivist-altruist régime. American patriotism has never been about allegiance to a man or an administration’s policies, or some holy turf, icon, or banner. American patriotism is about the love of liberty, of each man’s right to determine the workings of his own brain while in the pursuit of his own happiness. The ideas we rally around, fight and die for, are contained within no object. Our tabernacle, our Kaaba cannot be touched. Our patriotism is the liberty that charges our hearts and cruises our free minds.

For example: I think it’s safe to say that most Americans hate flag burners and that most of us would never burn the American flag in protest of any administration’s policies. Before the 1989 Supreme Court decision in Texas v. Johnson, 48 states had laws on the books making burning the American flag illegal. All of those laws were erased June 21, 1989, when five justices had the courage to defend the freedom of expression. The majority explained beautifully that the flag represents one’s right to burn it.

“We do not consecrate the flag by punishing its desecration, for in doing so we dilute the freedom that this cherished emblem represents.”

One man, Gregory Johnson, brought down 48 state legislatures and the millions of Americans they represent. Why? Because he was right. The social conservative response? Sixteen years of failed efforts to amend the U.S. Constitution to ban flag burning and restrict free speech.

The Left is no better. The Bill of Rights does not include any language guaranteeing anyone food, clothing, shelter, or health care, yet liberals continue to declare “health care is a right.” As we move to follow Europe’s Sicko-socialist lead, the property rights of some individuals will be sacrificed by the liberals who believe that the needs of some individuals create a right to pick the pockets of others in order to provide necessary services.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court has not been so vigilant about protecting property rights.

My fellow Americans have long since forgotten the very limited role of government envisioned by the Framers. Both “liberals” and “conservatives” empower politicians to rule over aspects of man’s life, in every instance violating the unalienable rights of some individuals in the name of some non-existent “greater good.”