Freedom And Natural Rights

We are at a crossroads in the majestic history of our great nation. At a time when all countries were ruled by Kings, America was formed by a group of freedom loving intellectuals who were the most successful individuals in a land that was raw and rough. Life was not easy, but for those who loved freedom, America was an amazing place.

Our first President, George Washington, was the man who presided over the Constitutional convention that gave us a most intriguing document. The Constitution was designed to assure that government was limited and restricted so that Americans were free to pursue their happiness with as much vigor as they had, free of interference. This did not make life in America easy. It made it free. When some wanted to make Washington King, he rejected that. His example of valuing freedom more than power affected the way our nation was governed for more that 100 years.

Over the last two and one half centuries, various people have struggled to erode the "natural" rights on which our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are based. These natural rights come from the belief that there is a God and he granted us free will. From this God-granted free will flows the right to freedom and the right to pursue happiness that our founders threaded into our culture. This view of free will is shared by believers in the God of the Jews and those who believe in the son of that God. The interesting thing is that these believers in free will did not set up a nation with a religion based on their own beliefs, but granted the free will that comes from natural law to all in our nation, assuring us of religious freedom as well. They granted free will to all, believers or non believers. This took great courage, to assure that those with whom they did not agree had the same freedom as those who agreed. This is an important element in the foundation of our nation that we must not lose.

The last hundred years we have been losing the battle for freedom. There are two related forces that have opposed our form of government from its inception, those who deny God and those who seek government power over our lives. They appeal to the greed of those who fail under freedom and those who wish to compel you to accept certain duties subservient to government for reasons of power. In recent years these two forces are on the ascendancy.

Power and greed are the enemies of freedom and the enemies of the God granted free will on which our nation is based. It is that struggle which we must address right now because we are at war with three powerful movements dedicated to the destruction of our freedom.

For reasons of communication we need to label those forces who are seeking power and encouraging greed in opposition to American freedom and free will. At a broad level, they are global socialists, Islamo-fascists and Aztlantists, each actively seeking our destruction. Co-mingled among them are those who simply seek a better life for themselves and their descendants. These individuals give cover to the organized movements and allow the movements to denounce anyone in America who opposes them. These complex sets of forces are overwhelming America's defenses since each has its adherence among our own citizens who enable them and subvert our freedoms. Their motivations are based on visions of greater power for themselves and their individual wealth, gained by changing our nation from a nation that assures freedom to a nation that picks winners and losers. They want to be elected the winners.

All of these enemies seek a nation, not of freedom, but of government power. It is God who grants us free will. Those of us who believe in natural law and God granted free will must stand up and resist, or we will shortly be subservient to government power in all things of importance.

Do you believe in freedom and free will? Are you willing to fight for your freedom? Are you willing to accept that with freedom comes hard work? Freedom is slipping away. The time to act is now.

One force that has always fought for freedom is called conservatism. However there are many who are concerned with the conservative movement. Two recent articles that discuss the belief that conservatism is weakening include The long goodbye: conservatism's perpetual decline and Conservatives, fear not. Both address the concerns I have but focused solely on the issues of this political movement.

I see the problem from a broader perspective since conservatism is only indirectly about freedom and free will. Conservatism has been taken over by populists like Newt Gingrich, John McCain and George Bush and remolded to their perspectives. Many of these populist goals conflict with free will. It has allowed them to advocate positions that would never be endorsed by those who believe government must only protect us from others and that government must be limited. Government must not dominate our lives and protect us from ourselves and our own weakness. A government powerful enough to tell us we must have a particular drug program must first be powerful enough to take our money to fund the program. This removes the free will of individuals to decide for themselves how much effort they wish to expend in this regard.

The problem with this view is that the American people do not seem willing to focus on freedom as the most important aspect of government any longer. There is a clear preference in the current mood of our populace for redistribution of wealth as long as that redistribution is from others to them. It is couched in the logic of help for the needy. It is justification for government programs that take from our neighbors and ease the existence of those who are not willing to pay for programs that they want but which have a lower priority in their personal budget. Thus you have people who will not themselves pay for health insurance arguing that they should have free health care paid for by the state . . . i.e. anyone but them.

Conservatism, or at least a major element of the people who call themselves conservative, has thus broken with its roots and become a force for evil rather than a force defending God granted free will. Neither party seems concerned with liberty and freedom. They are even fighting over the idea of whether our enemies are truly our enemies or whether we must focus on internal fights between each other. Freedom comes from the free will of each of God's children accepting the costs that come with that freedom. It also means we must allow others to have free will in their own lives if we are going to demand our own free will.

George Washington understood that. Americans have strayed from that belief. We must go back to a love of freedom for others if we want our own freedom respected. Is that possible any longer?