Had to have something to do to get rid of my nerves about Huckabee's announcement tonight. So I sat down to respond to this thread.
QuoVadisAnima wrote:
Most, if not all, of our Founding Fathers believed in man's vulnerability to doing wrong at some point along that spectrum between concupiscence and total depravity. Our govt was actually designed with that understanding in mind - that the people needed to be protected from those eventual leaders who would succumb to the temptations that come with power & authority.
So that's the idea - balancing the inalienable rights of the individual (what the FF communicated to posterity as their definition of freedom) with the good of society & the protection of the vulnerable.
In such a worldview, how could legalizing recreational drugs that have no real redeeming qualities but tons of negative ones possibly have been looked on favorably?
WinningGuy wrote:
...legalizing drugs would save a lot of law resources that are currently spent trying to fight drug dealers and cartels. These people kill thousands every year because they have a lucrative business based on drugs being illegal.
And what is religion for? Do we need the government to make the rules for us instead of following what our faith tells us is right and wrong?
Not instead of, but in addition to. Certainly God calls for the necessity of government, for He instituted it. Why is each one's conscience not enough? Or his or her religion?
Why do we need government?...To keep others from hurting us,
To restrain evil so we do not hurt them back,
To keep our kids safe,
To prosecute the offenders who prey on the innocent,
To take away the freedom of those who hurt, kill, maim, or steal from others in our civil society,
To keep our streets and our homes safe,
To keep the powerful from trampling the powerless.
(Now, if we are at war, the rules change, and we try to kill the enemies of our nation before they kill us.)
Government is ordained of God: …"So we may lead quiet and peaceable lives;"
"To be a terror to the one who does evil,"
So we may have freedom to spread the gospel truth,
So we may believe in God and not be persecuted for it,
So we may have law and an orderly society,
So we may settle disputes over property,
So we may protect our borders,
So we may take care of our families, make a living and not give it all to government,
So we may protect the institution of the family...
Also, certain personal rights are particularly protected by the first ten amendments to the Constitution; they are defined as the Bill of Rights (my paraphrase below):
I. We do not have to attend a certain state church (established church) against our belief or be persecuted or punished for our religion. We can quote the Bible in the open market, assemble for a prayer meeting, and ask our government for a redress of grievances.
II. Our right to keep and bear arms and use them responsibly is a right necessary for our own (and probably our community’s) protection.
III. During peacetime we do not have to let soldiers live in our houses.
IV. We have a right to be secure in our homes, our persons, our papers, and other things we own privately. Government can't come in and search our castle, nor can they seize our property. The only way they can do this is if there is reason to suspect us of crimes, and then someone has to swear an oath or affirmation and narrowly describe the place, person, or things to be seized.
V. If you are charged with murder or a capital offense, except in a grand jury indictment, you do not have to incriminate yourself, unless it is a military or wartime crime. Also no double jeopardy is allowed, where you would be tried twice for the same offense. Also, you get a trial or other "due process of law," before punishment or fines. The government is not supposed to take your private property either, without just compensation.
VI. You have a right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury in your own district or state. You have to be confronted by witnesses and have counsel for your defense.
VII. If the value of the controversy is over twenty dollars, you have a right to be tried by jury. And the facts of the case cannot be re-examined in any court in the United States, except by common law.
VIII. No excessive bail and fines nor cruel and unusual punishment are permitted.
IX. These enumerated laws do not mean that other rights can be disparaged.
X. Powers not enumerated in the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the respective states and to the people. (The states and the people are to be protected from a powerful central government.)
I agree that there is nothing in the Constitution or Bill of Rights that would indicate we have any rights to participate in behavior of the kind that would jeopardize the health and safety of others. But also, if there is any need to regulate health issues, it should be a right or responsibility of the state or the people, not the federal government. Perhaps meat or produce shipped across state lines would also need some regulation by the federal government under interstate commerce law. But states license doctors, nurses, and health facilities. By saying that the people could regulate such matters, I take it to mean local governments and principalities. It does not mean that individuals could or should be “a law unto themselves.” That sort of liberty borders on lawlessness and leads to chaos, for we are none of us perfect in behavior or motive. Only a totally pure, perfect, and loving populace can be free to do as they please. And we have found no such population under the sun.
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