Posted on 10/03/2009 8:17:34 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Thanks to the summary of republican principle contained in the U.S. Declaration of Independence, we have a succinct basis for doing both. The defining goal of republican government is to secure the unalienable rights with which their Creator has endowed all human beings. On account of this goal, the republican form characteristically confines government to the exercise of "just powers" derived "from the consent of the governed." Though still very familiar to many Americans, we too rarely pause to consider the full implications of the Declaration's words. Though consent is the sine qua non for the government's exercise of just power, consent is not the substance of justice. That substance consists in the Creator's provision of unalienable rights as an aspect of human nature. The governed may choose from among the range of government powers that secure these rights (government's "just powers") those which are suitable to their circumstances. Unjust powers of government (those that do not serve the goal of securing their unalienable rights) are not legitimized (made lawful) by the consent of the governed. So, though it is an essential feature of republican government, the sovereignty of the people is not absolute. It is subject to the Creator's prior provision for justice, to the higher law constituted by His will... This is the key point ignored (or else willfully neglected) by the Ron Paul nationalists. It was also neglected (or simply rejected) by the states' rights advocates for slavery before the Civil War. From a republican point of view, their states' rights arguments were fatally flawed because no state government can claim the power to legitimize (make lawful) that which contravenes the Creator's provision for justice.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Keyes gets it right again. It’s too bad that even the Republican party all too often forgets these basic principles that should be stamped on the heart of every American.
Keyes gets it right again. It’s too bad that even the Republican party all too often forgets these basic principles that should be stamped on the heart of every American.
the very person that authored the Declaration of Independence was himself a slave owner, as were many that signed it. Apparently they were not aware of this “republican” principle
Actually, they were very well aware of this principle, that God's law is higher than man's law and must be the basis of natural law and all just law. That is the basis of everything they believed and did.
That doesn't mean that, having grasped that truth, that they saw all the way to the end of the road, and understood the full consequence of the truths that they had dimly begun to understand enough to stake their lives on them.
Men are always limited by the times they live in, and shaped by the culture that shaped them, even revolutionaries who reshape their times are limited by their times. Some of the men of the time understood that the logic of their principles did in fact make slavery a great sin, and tried to outlaw it from the beginning. But not everyone could see it, which is why it remained until their grandchildren were able finally to do something about it.
They took that truth as far as they could take it. Their grandchildren took it a little farther, and the full meaning of it is yet to unfold. It falls to us to keep pushing, keep moving it down the road.
We believe in the separation of powers as a way of preserving liberty; if one branch oppresses, you have two other branches to appeal to. The vertical separation has the same purpose. If the feds oppress, you appeal to the states, if the states oppress you appeal to the feds. The purpose, though, is always liberty under God. Forget that and any level or branch of government can become your oppressor.
Dr. Keyes is offbase, the Citizens are Sovereigns in the US, the “highest law” as it were.
To say otherwise is to deny “inalienable” and substitute “except for”
I dont know if they thought the negros to be 'sub human' or that they simply didnt 'practice what they preached', but at least they did preach it...
We have a government of laws, not men. We’re a constitutional republic, based on the rule of law, not a democracy.
To put it another way, the understanding that law must be subject to "natural law", which is to say "God", is what separates a republic from a democracy that self-destructs in a generation. The founders understood that very well, its in every line of everything they wrote.
Now, working that out in the practical world over the generations is what we call "politics" and its what we call "history".
Awesome! 2 heels going against each other. It’s Wrestlemania 2009 of fringe conservatism. Vince McMahon eat your heart out.
With all the crap going on in DC, Keyes takes aim at the less than 1% of voters who know about him or Paul. I might almost be tempted to read it.
Hmmm... I seem to recall quite a bit of back and forth between McCain, Romney, and Rudy at times. And we were stuck hoping the least socialistic one got the nomination. Then ended up with maybe the most socialistic one and he lost anyway. If Ron Paul and Alan Keyes are the fringe, I’ll take that any day over a mainstream pubbie that I can’t tell from a dem.
Here is an excellent article concerning slavery in 1776 and the Founders. The majority of the Founders thought the institution of slavery was evil. Revisionists try to make the Founders into evil racists to undermine the brilliance of these men and their ideas. Slavery existed in the colonies hundreds of years before 1776.
One of the strongest abolitionists was John Adams who never owned a slave. They created the seeds that led to the abolition of slavery in certain states right after the Revolution, but were not entirely successful in some states because slavery was such an entrenched, ancient (accepted) institution, practiced throughout the world.
http://www.wallbuilders.com/LIBissuesArticles.asp?id=122
:’D Nice summary!
Very well said. Furthermore, the Declaration would never have been made (let alone the Constitution) had the issue been debated in 1776.
bookmark for reference - founders and slavery
I’ll take that any day over a mainstream pubbie that I can’t tell from a dem.
Obama is just more of the same to you. I see a difference. The nice thing about giving up on political relevancy is you never have to take responsibility for Socialized Medicine, Cap and Tax, and our dead soldiers in Afghanistan. Good luck convincing the rest of the country of the superiority of your ideology.
Need to read this later.
Crazy versus Crazy — I suspect Keyes envies L-Ron’s little horde of wackos.
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