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The words of the Constitution recognize the right of all religions to exist
and to be freely exercised, but not the right of the state to require
religion is a requirement of citizenship. You can be an atheist in America,
but you do not have the right to insist that everyone else ignore God.
Some sage once noted that America is the only nation that was founded on the
basis of words. Tribes did not found this nation. No king proclaimed its
existence. We are nation held together by a framework of words in our
Declaration of Independence and, most importantly, the Constitution.
Federalist Paper No. 15 noted that "In a free government, the security for
civil rights must be the same as for religious rights," declaring that
"Justice is the end of government." Meaning it is the purpose of government.
The authors of the Federalist Papers were John Jay, James Madison, and
Alexander Hamilton. Together, they produced 85 papers advocating the
acceptance of the Constitution.
Thereafter, many people have striven to express what America represents. On
July 4th and every other day of the year, we need to remind ourselves of the
precious freedoms we enjoy and of the constant threat to those freedoms that
exists.
Thornton Wilder noted that the Founding Fathers "did not only leave the old
world, they repudiated it. Americans start from scratch." That Old World was
run by monarchs and despots. The new one, while including many nations that
now have elections, is still filled with far too many in which the voice of
the people has no power whatever.
Adlai Stevenson said, "America is much more than a geographical fact. It is a
political and moral fact-the first community in which men set out in
principle to institutionalize freedom, responsible government, and human
equality."
"If you expect people to be ignorant and free, you expect what never was and
never will be," said Thomas Jefferson.
The message was repeated in every generation. William Henry Harrison said,
"We admit of no government by divine right, the only legitimate right to
govern is an express grant of power from the governed."
Wendell Phillips said, "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." Gen.
Douglas McArthur said, "The inescapable price of liberty is an ability to
preserve it from destruction."
In his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, President John F. Kennedy said,
"The world is different now. For humans hold in their mortal hands the power
to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet,
the same revolutionary faith for which our forebears fought is still at issue
around the globe-the belief that the rights of humanity come not from the
generosity of the state but from the hand of God."
Humanity was on the mind of Archibald MacLeish who wrote, "There are those, I
know, who will say that the liberation of humanity, the freedom of man and
mind, is nothing but a dream. They are right. It is the American dream."
Alan Caruba is the author of "The United Nations Vs. The United States", for sale from the Internet site of The National Anxiety
Center, a clearinghouse for information about scare campaigns at
www.anxietycenter.com.
Copyright, Alan Caruba, 2002
Published by permission.
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