(SBA) - We recently celebrated the birth of this nation which was built on the principles that we have inalienable rights. John Dickinson, a signer of the Constitution, defined inalienable rights this way. … “They are created in us by the decrees of Providence, which establish the laws of our nature. They are born with us; exist with us; and cannot be taken from us by any human power, without taking our lives.” This is the basis of our freedom.
This freedom we experience is not free. Our founding fathers gave up their homes, their fortunes and their lives to secure for us a nation where “We the People” rule. Those who fought in the Revolutionary War gave up their lives so you could live free. That means the government didn’t give these rights to us and therefore, cannot take them away from us.
We are a nation whose Constitution has lasted nearly 250 years while in that same period France has had 15 different Constitutions. Ours has existed because it was based on timeless principles and divided government. The three branches of government have different jurisdictions which ensures one branch cannot overpower the other two branches.
The three branches are not equal as the media has repeatedly promoted. They obviously haven’t read the writings of the founding fathers as they struggled over the wording of our precious Constitution. The Legislative branch was to be the most powerful because it was closest to the people. We elect Congressmen and Senators. The Judicial branch was to be the weakest because their jurisdiction was to interpret whether a law was Constitutional by investigating the original intent of the principle as discussed in their writings which are included in the Federalist Papers.. Their intent for each Constitutional principle has been found in the lengthy dialogue between the founding fathers through letters and written commentary as the Constitution was being written. Thomas Jefferson commented on the way the Constitution should be interpreted. He said, “On every question of construction, carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or invented against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.” How this has been abused by prior Supreme Courts!
The third branch is the Executive Branch which is that of the President whose main responsibility is to protect the nation from foreign and domestic enemies and ensure that our rights are protected.
We have a responsibility to teach this to our children and have them study the Constitution so they can recognize when their rights are being infringed upon. Ask your school if they celebrate Constitution Day, September 17th and what activities they have planned to explain the importance of our Constitution, the Law of the Land. Insist that this celebration occurs. Unfortunately, we have not made sure our children received a true education regarding the sacrifices that have been made since the birth of our nation for our freedoms. As a result, we don’t see the younger generations loving this country as the only truly free nation to ever have existed in human history. Now that is something that can be celebrated every day of the year, year after year. Here is a final thought that came from the mouth of Benjamin Franklin.
“A Nation of well informed men who have been taught to know and prize the rights which God has given them cannot be enslaved. It is in the region of ignorance that tyranny begins.”
