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About Neal Ross
Neal Ross works for a major fruit packaging facility in CA. He
served 13 years in the US Air Force and another ten as a military contractor. He
has traveled the world, having lived in Kuwait, Oman, Italy, Germany, Korea, the
Philippines and Spain. A constitutionalist, he believes that a good portion of
the fault for the problems of this country lies in the apathy of the American
people. He maintains websites
here and
here. |
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Past Articles
Take
Heed That Ye Be Not Deceived
Standing Up for Your Rights May Come at a Cost |
Neal Ross
Take Heed That Ye Be Not Deceived
February 4, 2010
"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.--That to secure these rights, Governments are
instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the
governed…”
It would be my guess that to most
people the preceding quote sounds vaguely familiar. I know for certain that
anyone who has read my articles has definitely read it. Sadly I am of the belief
that the vast majority who read it just glance over it without giving it more
than a moment’s thought.
It seems to me that documents such as
the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are taken for granted. But
it is the principle contained within that quote which forms the foundation upon
which our entire system of government was built. Therefore people would do well
to take just a bit of time from their busy schedules to really think about what
Thomas Jefferson meant when he penned those words.
Weighty issues such as rights and
liberty are no longer of much importance to the average American. People are
more concerned with their own comfort, security, or their quest for
gratification.
Because of that, it has been an easy
task for our government to expand it’s powers far beyond those originally
intended, and in so doing slowly, but surely strip us of the liberty that our
founders sought to protect.
That being said, I have to agree with
Ben Franklin, who said,
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
But I get ahead of myself. Let us go back and see what exactly Jefferson meant
when he placed those words in the Declaration of Independence.
In my last article I spoke about
maxims, things that are widely accepted as true. Self evident is just another
way of saying maxim. Therefore when Jefferson said that these truths were
self-evident, he meant that there was no disagreement, they were accepted as a
truth.
Jefferson continued by saying that all
men were created equal and that they were endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable rights. Jefferson, as well as many of the founding fathers, was a
follower of the principle of natural law. Natural laws exist due to our status
as humans, not due to the benevolent grants given by man, or government.
John Adams also believed in the
principle of natural law, which was proven by the following from his draft of
the Declaration of Rights of the Inhabitants of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts,
"All men are born free and equal, and have certain natural, essential, and
unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and
defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and
protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and
happiness.”
Natural laws predate any form of
government. The Bible does not state that God first created government, then
man. Therefore if our rights are a gift from God, then they existed at the time
God created the very first man, Adam.
Eighteenth century Judge, Sir William
Blackstone, once wrote an extensive treatise entitled Commentaries on the Laws
of England, from which I quote,
"MAN, considered as a creature, must necessarily be subject to the laws of
his creator, for he is entirely a dependent being.…And consequently as man
depends absolutely upon his maker for every thing, it is necessary that he
should in all points conform to his maker's will.
THIS will of his maker is called the law of nature. For as God, when he created
matter, and endued it with a principle of mobility, established certain rules
for the perpetual direction of that motion; so, when he created man, and endued
him with freewill to conduct himself in all parts of life, he laid down certain
immutable laws of human nature…”
Government, in whatever form it takes,
is a creation of man, and therefore natural law supersedes any laws created by
man, or by governments instituted by man.
Government, for a very long time now,
has been slowly working to restrict, or completely do away with our rights, and
our liberty. This goes at least as far back to when not so honest Abraham
Lincoln was president.
Many believe that Lincoln was one of
our greatest presidents, right up there with George Washington and Thomas
Jefferson. They believe this because they have been taught that he fought a war
to free the slaves. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Lincoln didn’t care one way or another
about freeing the slaves. That may be hard to accept for many, seeing as how
they have been lied to all their lives about the history of the civil war. Yet
all one has to do is to research the matter and they would find the truth for
themselves.
From a letter to Horace Greeley, let’s
see what Lincoln himself said,
"My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either
to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any
slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do
it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also
do that.”
In fact, Lincoln was of the belief
that the blacks were unequal and inferior to whites. In a presidential debate
against Stephen Douglas, Lincoln stated,
"I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about
in anyway the social and political equality of the white and black races - that
I am not nor ever have been in favor of making voters or jurors of negroes, nor
of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I
will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the
white and black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living
together on terms of social and political equality.”
History books are filled with lies
about supposedly great presidents who, in reality, abused their power and
authority, and in so doing trampled upon our rights. And the sad thing is that
the abuses continue to this day, all the while people are too preoccupied with
their own trials and tribulations to learn the truth.
There is one thing that people,
especially those who profess to be Christian, should give a great deal of
thought to. In the case of Robin v. Hard away (1772), George Mason argued the
following,
"All acts of legislature apparently contrary to natural right and just are,
in our laws, and must be in the nature of things, considered as void. The laws
of nature are the laws of God; Whose authority can be superseded by no power on
earth. A legislature must not obstruct our obedience to him from whose
punishments they cannot protect us.”
In the book of Luke Christ admonished
us by saying, "Take heed that ye be not deceived.” Yet we have been
deceived, by the very people we put our faith in to uphold the constitution, and
safeguard our rights.
I would ask that, if you be so
inclined, that you read 2 Timothy, Chapter 3 in its entirety. Could that be the
reason we pay more attention to trivial matters, than we do in fighting for the
very rights which are a gift from our God?
Our most fundamental rights have been
infringed upon so much that they are virtually gone. Anytime I need to obtain a
permit, pay a fee, or obtain permission from any governmental agency to do
something, it has ceased to be a right.
In the Declaration of Independence,
Jefferson described one final right we also held,
"…that 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.”
Remember though, the southern states
tried that once, and not so honest Abe took our nation to war to prevent them
from asserting what was rightfully theirs, their sovereignty.
Some people may read this, then go
back to their lives without giving it much though. Others might just say I am
spouting more conspiracy theories and ignore me completely. To those who refuse
to learn the truth I would like to quote Patrick Henry,
"Are we disposed to be of the numbers of those who, having eyes, see not,
and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal
salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to
know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.”
To those of you who accept the lies
fed to you by your elected officials without even bothering to question the
truth, or learn the legality of their actions, remember, Christ warned you, "Take
heed that ye be not deceived.” How are you going to explain yourself when
you are asked why you let the rights God gave you be stripped from you by
deceitful men? I hope you have a good answer. |
