"The New York Times reported last Thursday that no civilians in New
Orleans
will be allowed to have guns, quoting the superintendent of police that
'only law enforcement are allowed to have weapons'."
Floods are to Dikes
As Disasters are to Rights,
Each Tests our Protections
From Nature and Might
Whether Government or Storm
Citing "Safety" or "Elevation",
The Results are the Same
Complete Devastation
When once they Depart
We are left to Determine,
How We lost so Much,
How We let it Happen?
There are 62 definitions of the word "right" in my Webster's
Encyclopedic
Unabridged Dictionary. But for our purposes the word is best defined in
those Founding Documents, The Declaration of Independence and the Bill of
Rights.
The Declaration of Independence, signed by 56 delegates to the Continental
Congress in 1776, states " We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator withy certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of
Happiness." Five years later, in 1791, Congress responded to
President
Washington's Inaugural Appeal to adopt a Bill of Rights. These were
believed necessary to prevent the Federal government from infringing on the
"basic rights" of citizens. To this day, those first ten
Amendments to the
Constitution are called "The Bill of Rights". Those Amendments
guarantee
Freedom of the press, speech, assembly, religion and the rights of States:
they prohibit and define illegal searches, illegal prosecution, illegal
trials, and any infringement of "the right of the people to keep and bear
Arms".
When a "Right" erodes, just like a dike, the results are disaster for
farther than the eye can see. When a "superintendent of police"
can suspend
a "Right" it means that a Mayor or Governor or Congress or President
or any
Federal, State, or Local "official" can do likewise. Like the
first trickle
of water through the dike, erosion begins and the flow increases until the
dike is no more and the flood of tyranny (the absence of any "rights")
covers all.
When a Constitutional "Right" is subject to such authority, what does
this
mean to other rights? If the "right" to bear arms is so fragile,
why not
suspend civil rights when certain groups complain? Why not suspend the
right of assembly or speech or the right to petition government when certain
groups are disruptive of "law enforcement"?
When we allow the blatantly illegal suspension of a right by any official we
invite disaster. Whether it is our defined right to practice our religion
or control our property or our undefined right to hunt or fish or live where
we want; toleration of the infringement or loss of a right endangers all
other rights and all people.
When officials infringe the right to bear arms and go unpunished we set
precedent for more abuse in the future. When children see one right as
less
"real" than others, they begin to think any right may become less real
if
enough people agree. The concepts of "unalienable" (God-given)
and
"Constitutional" (requiring Constitutional Amendment) become just what
Roman
Emperors and European Kings and Dictators believe "rights" to be: that
is
something THEY grant or withdraw at their own whim and at our peril. When
one official destroys a right and goes unpunished, the urge for other
officials to do likewise for their own benefit is like a magnetic opiate.
Like hurricanes and floods, politicians and bureaucrats and judges are
things we need to constantly guard against. The same forces that create
all
the benefits of our climate create storms. The same need for a government
that protects our way of life places awesome powers in those we call
"rulers". Our families, our property, our liberties, and our
very lives
are jeopardized whenever we let down our guard and allow dikes or rights to
erode and disappear whether in a natural or manmade disaster.
Jim Beers
17 Sep 2005
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