Brushfire of Freedom
The Armory
Note: Originally published at Brushfire Sparks on February 10, 2009.
The Bill of Rights is a list of each of the birth rights of every American citizen. They were crafted to protect and defend the people of this nation, because the people are this nation.
The first ten amendments to the US Constitution are commonly known as the Bill of Rights. Their purpose, and this is actually the most important part about the Bill of Rights, is to limit the power of government. The newly formed United States were concerned about the power of the central government, having dealt with many civil rights violations perpetrated by the British during the Revolutionary War. They wanted some structure to ensure similar violations would not and could not occur under the new Constitution.
Thomas Jefferson was the primary champion of the Bill of Rights, though they were authored by James Madison as a way to address differences between political factions debating the Constitution. The Anti-Federalists were initially opposed to the Constitution, in part because it lacked a bill of rights to protect the people. They feared the recently defeated British monarchy, and did not want to see the new centralized government granted similar power. Madison’s proposal of these first ten amendments was one key in the formation of our nation not because it helped frame our government, but because it restricted the government in favor of the rights of the individual.
It is vitally important to understand not only each amendment but their purpose as a whole. It is because we have fallen silent on the overall purpose of the Bill of Rights that many of our liberties have been stolen. Much of our freedom of religion, right to bare arms, right to free speech and assembly, and many other precious liberties, have been watered down or dissolved entirely because the tool designed to protect our rights has been used to take them away. Over the past few decades we have witnessed the erosion of our freedoms; freedoms that have been bought by blood and sustained for over two centuries by the documents forged early in our founding. It is because we do not understand or have never learned the true purpose of those The Bill of Rights is a collection of multiple freedoms that the Founding Fathers knew would need protection from power if our nation was to survive. They protect the right of the individual, taking power away from the government and resting it in the hands of the people. They protect the liberties of the nation, restricting the ability of government to stifle the spirit within us that yearns for freedom. They define the limits of the government, ensuring that power rests and remains with the people, by the people, and for the people. The Bill of Rights is a list of each of the birth rights of every American citizen. They were crafted to protect and defend the people of this nation, because the people are this nation.
In the past several decades, those who desire greater power have seen the restrictions of the Bill of Rights and have taken significant steps to reduce their power. Through litigation and some legislation, those who desire more control over the people, and thus the nation, have attacked each of the freedoms listed in the amendments. The free press has been reduced to an entertainment venue, no longer watching over the government, but praising its performance whenever a specific agenda is advanced. Free speech has been restricted by the concept of “political correctness”, meaning nothing can be said that might offend, no matter the truthfulness of the statement. Private property rights have been nearly eliminated and replaced with property acquisition and management “for the good of the people”. Much of this has been done in the name of The People, using the very Bill of Rights that was designed to restrict the government’s power. This bastardization of the document that protects our freedoms has resulted in a government so powerful, that the people have turned to anonymous venues to speak their mind, much like this blog.
This egregious assault on our liberty must stop. It is time for this nation and this people to wake up, take back the rights that are inalienable and gifted by our Creator, and bring this nation back to its former greatness. The preamble of the Constitution promises to, “...secure the blessings of liberty...”. These blessings are defined in the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to that very Constitution. Those who attack those blessings, are attacking our liberties. Those who attack our liberty are failing to uphold and defend the Constitution. Those who fail to uphold and defend the Constitution are attacking this nation and Her people, and should be considered the enemies of freedom. It is time we sharpened our tools and took back that which is ours, and is protected by our Bill of Rights.
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