The Bill of Rights; Inherent Rights Do Not Come From Government. They Come From God.
It is written in the Declaration of Independence itself- “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.”
Our rights are given to us from our creator, (God) and so, they cannot be taken from us by man or Government. They are unailienable rights. The founders said that chief among these rights were the rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. Notice the last one there says the “pursuit” of happiness, not that they guaranteed happiness just the right to try and find it for ourselves.
That is a big distinction for all of those leftists out there who believe the government owes them a Job and Home, or a new car or education. The founders also didn’t say that those were our only rights. And that some were inherent and some legal and there was an important distinction between the two.
When they wrote the law of the land, they abridged it with the Bill of Rights, just to make sure that these points came accross nice and clear within The Constitution.
That a Government of, by, and for the people, would be limeted in its power to take our inherent rights away from us without just cause. They also gave us a republic so that our individual rights were paramount, and protected against the majority.
There is a great article that talks about this, By Benjamin R. Dierker in “The Federalist,” that our own Big E from “The Liberty Cast” keeps up at the top of his Twitter page: ?
https://t.co/bEwM25R88y
— Earl "Big E" Jackson (@thelibertycast) April 1, 2018
This. Perhaps the best argument for gun rights. Ever.
If you read through that article he makes some wonderful points. His first paragraph says it all eloquently:
There is no legal right to own a firearm in the United States. The Constitution does not give citizens the right to own weapons, and no legal or historical arguments support the idea that it does. Instead, a much deeper and more important philosophy provides for gun ownership: natural rights. These rights are not given, but protected. Not to expand citizens’ rights, but to limit government’s power.
By Benjamin R. Dierker
The Constitution does not give the Government its power over the people, it limits the power of the Government over the people. It specifically adresses what powers the government has and what it can and cannot do. If a Governmental power or law is not specifically laid out within The Constitution, than the Federal Government does not have that power. And it falls to the state or the people to regulate it as they see fit.
Amendment Ten says,
“The powers not delegated to the United States by The Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”
Which is why it is so hard to ratify or amend The Constitution. It takes an awful lot to give the Government even more power than it already has. But that doesn’t keep those in control of that Govenment from trying to gain more of that power for themselves, and the founders knew it.
In the preamble to the Bill of Rights it makes this clear:
“…by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to The Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz. “
So it takes a majority of the states, and 3/4 of both houses of congress, to amend The Constitution it is not an easy task to get all those people to agree, as we all know.
Even if the Amendments in the bill of rights were to be repealed, it wouldn’t matter. These rights are protected anyway. In fact there was much debate by our founders about even whether to add the Bill of Rights in The Constitution at all. Some were afraid that putting them into it, may negate other individual rights that were not specifically sited or infered. Such as the right to own a firearm.
In the article Dierker says,
In a properly functioning America like the Founders envisioned, a repeal of the Second Amendment would be virtually meaningless. The right existed already; the Constitution merely secures it. Unfortunately, our society has loosened its grasp on natural rights philosophy and devolved into dependency on government-sanctioned rules. Today, however, even unambiguous text is under scrutiny by Democrats as prominent as former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens.
He also points out that there is a big distinction between Natural and legal rights:
The Constitution mentions both natural and legal rights, and the distinction is critical. Within the Bill of Rights, some activities, like speech, are innate human rights protected against government interference. Other rights, like a speedy trial, are legal rights, which are products of the structure the Constitution created.
This distinction is crucial, because natural rights are articulated as endowed by God, while legal rights are endowed by government. The Founding Fathers understood natural rights to exist independent of—or in spite of—government. They simply exist for free people walking the earth. Legal rights are granted by men, and can be altered or destroyed by changes to law or the structure of government. The natural and legal rights in the Constitution are so fundamental that the Bill of Rights was added as an explicit bar to encroachment from the federal government.
The right to keep and bear arms is a natural right. It can be derived and is protected in multiple ways. Inherently, humans have natural grounds for self-preservation and defense. This right is beyond the reach of any person or government. Individuals can protect themselves using any necessary tools or actions.
Benjamin R. Dierker, the Federalist
And So, they wanted to reiterate those most important rights that the people had inherently, and they made sure to include them in the first 10 out of 27 Amendments to The Constitution of which we call, The Bill of Rights.
So, as the article says, when we hear the leftists talk about repealing the second amendment, it shouldn’t matter, it is God who gives us these inherent rights, they are not given to us by the Government. So the Government cannot take that right from you. Whether it is stated in the Bill of Rights or not, they are inherent rights, given to us by our creator.
Constitutions Don’t Establish Rights, But Secure Them
Many state constitutions included a list of natural rights, not to provide for these rights, but to promise the people that the government would not tread on them. The federal Bill of Rights comes as a series of amendments, not because they were afterthoughts, but because the U.S. Constitution was written to limit the power of the federal government such that it would be powerless to act where it was not authorized.
Debate persisted for years over whether the people’s natural rights should be enumerated at all. Some argued natural rights were so obvious that an enumeration was unnecessary, not to mention the government’s limited reach and small scope at the time.
In a 1787 letter to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no government should refuse, or rest on inference.”
The federalist:
These particular inherent rights, the founders felt were so important, that they mentiond them anyway, and specifically, just to make sure everyone who read the document understood their devine origin. So like them, I have included them again here below. We should all reread them from time to time, not just out of respect to the founders, but so that you know and understand these protected rights. Far too often these rights fall under attack by our law makers. And the leftists try to convince us that they do not even exsist. Take a look: ?
Preamble to The Bill of Rights:
Congress of the United States begun and held at the City of New-York, on Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.
THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.
RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.
ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.
Amendments I through X – The Bill of Rights:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Amendment III
No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Content like this is only made possible by contributions from readers like you. If everyone who enjoys our website helps fund it, we can expand and improve our coverage further. Plus you’ll get exclusive accsess to Family-Only original content and some free stuff! Join the RightWay Family today by donating @ patreon below: From this link below you can join a monthly patron tier, or make a custom donation of your choice to support The RightWay.
https://www.patreon.com/join/TheRightWay?
About Author
