Issues BIGGER than Myself
By JB Williams (10/11/07)
I'm human and I'm very American. I have the capacity to be self-centered and self-indulgent. It would be easier to serve my own interests than to focus on interests greater than myself. I don't like anyone as much as I like myself. Yet somehow, I feel compelled at this moment in history, to think about issues BIGGER than myself. And I'm feeling lonely...
The issue of an “unalienable” right to Life
A little more than 230 years ago, our nation’s most respected patriot was asked to pen the document that would establish America as a free sovereign nation of independent free men. He was the right choice. His name was Thomas Jefferson and he was wise enough to set the foundation for the greatest nation known to mankind upon the bedrock of certain specific “unalienable” rights.
“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them…”
“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.”
I have two children, one boy and one girl. Though they are too young to confront the issue of abortion, I have an active imagination. As painful as it is, I can imagine a day when one might find themselves facing the all too common challenge of unexpected early parenthood.
As a parent, I know the commitment involved in becoming a parent, and that the job of being a parent, is indeed a life-long, life altering task. I know all the challenges that accompany such an event. I also know how appealing the quick-fix of abortion can be, when faced with such news.
I know what my faith calls me to do. I know what my friends and family would expect me to do. I know what some of them have already done. And I know that the issue of protecting and preserving human life is BIGGER than me.
Any individual who can look at the sonogram of a baby only four weeks old and conclude that they are not looking at “human life,” is not qualified to make much more difficult decisions. Likewise, any individual who recognizes human life when they see it, and senses no obligation to defend the “unalienable” right to Life of an innocent human being, can not be trusted with less important American rights.
The issue of an “unalienable” right to Liberty
Liberty, the quality or state of being free: - the power to do as one pleases: - freedom from physical restraint: - freedom from arbitrary or despotic control: - the positive enjoyment of various social, political, or economic rights and privileges: - the power of choice.
The power of choice… to make decisions for ourselves. To be whatever we want to be, rich or poor, wise or foolish, ambitious or lazy, responsible or irresponsible, use our talents or waste our talents, to actively engage in the individual pursuit of Happiness or wait for Happiness to find us, to be part of the solution, or part of the problem.
There is no common good greater than the good of liberty for all men. The founders knew it, so they established liberty as an “unalienable” right for every American citizen, no matter their color, their religious beliefs, on which side of the tracks they were born or what political party they belong to.
Taking the liberty of one for benefit of another is against everything America is or ever has been. Any individual willing to rob one on behalf of another, is not qualified to lead this nation on this basis alone.
I am selfish. I would love free food, free housing, free healthcare and enough money to be happy. But Liberty is an “unalienable” American right. To protect this right for myself, I must protect it for all others. To retain the right to succeed, I can not allow the successful to be penalized for their success. The issue of liberty is BIGGER than me.
The “unalienable” Freedom to define and pursue Individual Happiness
America is the most productive and prosperous nation on earth. It can afford to buy my happiness. It’s my American birthright to be happy. Those who have benefited by their freedom owe me my happiness. My government is powerful enough to insist that I be happy. By electing those willing to rob the honest earnings of others on behalf of my happiness, I am pursuing Happiness. It’s my right…
But the people they will rob on my behalf, have a right to define and pursue happiness too, don’t they? What kind of liberty is this? Someone else must lose their liberty to succeed in order for me to lose my right to fail? The power of choice belongs only to some? From each according to his ability, to each according to his need, or desire?
What man was given the right to determine who has too much or too little? What men were given the right to “alienate” the freedom and liberty of some individuals for benefit of others? Any individual not clear on this issue is not suited to protect, defend or preserve these things.
Free stuff for me makes me happy. But at what cost to the liberty and freedom of others? Do these “unalienable” rights not apply to every American? The issue of freedom to define and pursue individual happiness is BIGGER than me. It belongs to every American.
Any individual willing to rob one American of their freedom and liberty for benefit of another, will one day rob me. To protect freedom, liberty and the right to define and pursue happiness myself, I must protect these same rights for all others.
These issues are the foundation of America. They are BIGGER than me. They are BIGGER than you. They are BIGGER than the greatest political ambitions of the most committed Marxist Democrat or the most “compassionate” conservative.
If you don’t know where you stand on these issues, I don’t care where you stand on any other issue. Got it?
In the good old days, I only had to write this for liberals and Democrats who lost their compass on these fundamental American rights decades ago. Sadly, today I have written this for my fellow Republicans, who also seem to have lost their way.
If the conservative party will no longer defend, protect and preserve these founding principles, then these principles are dead in America. If these principles are dead, only an empty shell of what was once America remains.
“Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
Maybe we should simply try altering or abolishing a Party first?
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