OUR RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS AS CITIZENS OF A REPUBLIC
by poisontolibs at The Right Planet
(Oct. 19, 2011) — The Founders and Framers of our nation and Republic were very much men of the social milieu in which they lived. The magnificent documents they produced to establish this nation and to institute a Republic therein are the result of the social milieu in which they existed..
The first of these documents is the Declaration of Independence–a very real product of the Enlightenment. In it we find the authors realized the essential nature of man (venial) and that there is a condition that allows man in his base state to elevate himself: the unalienable rights endowed by the Creator on all of mankind. The prime rights from which all other rights depend are the (in descending order of dependency): Right to Life, the Right to Liberty and the Right to the Pursuit of Happiness.
The Prime Right, with which we are endowed, is rightfully enumerated first by our Founders–the Right to Life. Without possession of life no other right can be enjoyed or endowed.
Government does not bestow this Right (or the Attendant Obligation) to respect that right in everyone else. Government only legislates it (for good or for ill) depending upon the nature of the form of government. Note that there are two conditions to each of the endowed Rights:
- The Right must apply equally to all, not to a specified class or subset of the whole.
- The Attendant Obligation also applies to the whole.
This Prime Right I consider as the “Master Cord” of the tapestry of our Rights and Obligations, as endowed by our Creator.
The second most important Right is the Right to Liberty … to be free in all things, in all ways, and at all times; limited only by the obligations incurred by the Rights to Life and Liberty to respect and support the same for all.
Rather advanced for their time to recognize and embrace Truth as endowed by our Creator; that for each Right the incurred Obligation is actually the social component and basis for our American culture.
Third is the Right to the Pursuit of Happiness. This is not possible without the Right to Liberty, nor the Right to Life. This makes the hopes and dreams of man a real possibility. I didn’t say a sure thing. For that is not a right! There is not a Right to a Predetermined or Guaranteed Outcome, just the Right to pursue your goal on an equal and level playing field.
These three Rights, as enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, run through each of our lives and make a tapestry of the lives of the Creator’s children. These Rights are not ours. We do not own them. We merely possess them and are asked to protect them … to cherish them and to base our nation on them, for not only ourselves, but for the generations yet to come.
We have an awesome gift from the Creator and we must be faithful stewards of this gift. Generations yet unborn will be affected by what we do (or neglect to do) in regards this gift. Just as we not only labor now for our own sustenance, but also for the generations to come through our estates (small to non-existent though they be). We must be good stewards–to be ever vigilant of our Rights and Obligations. For if we allow the nibbling away of these, there will be nothing to pass to our progeny but enslavement and misery.