• Home
• News/Updates Blog
• Every Citizen's Duty
• The Modern Media
• American History
• Our Civil Liberties
• Law in America
• Government Secrecy
• The Federal Reserve
• CAFRs (Gov. Finance)
• Preserving Life/Health
• Drugs in America
• Religion in America
• Other Current Issues
• Take Action/Solutions
• The Community
• Reference and More
• Contact & Site Info

The original Gadsden flag: a strong symbol of freedom.

Our Civil Liberties

The most defining characteristic of the republic that the founding fathers fought to establish and sought to preserve was the recognition of each citizen's civil liberties. Though in practice our nation continues to struggle with the far-reaching consequences of this ideology, it is the element of our country which first allowed us to claim that we are a free people. We've come too far with regards to securing these rights to allow them to be compromised in any way, but the continual erosion of our civil liberties is now an unfortunate reality.

"Unalienable Rights"

When referring to civil liberties, we are referring to a recognition of the unalienable rights that result from our inherent sovereignty as an individual. Civil liberties are inherent rights; they are not privileges granted to us by the government or the Constitution. They cannot, therefore, be taken away from us by any just legal scheme because our rights are recognized by the law as coming from a higher source. The Founder's recognized the importance of respecting the sovereignty of every individual by designing the Bill of Rights as a safeguard of the people's liberties against government. Today the liberties laid out in the Constitution are assumed, in large part, not to be possessed by any citizen. Instead, it is more common for us to incorrectly view our inherent liberties as privileges. We have come to submit to the authority of what we perceive as government instead of recognizing the truth that we are the source of governmental authority and, therefore, superior to it.

Freedom vs. Security

There is an ongoing battle against freedom in America being waged in the name of security. We hear it almost every day on the news in the form of, "I don't care if they monitor my calls, I'm not a terrorist," or "I'd rather be secure than be free and dead," and even "It's the government's job to ensure the security of every citizen." In almost every case, however, freedom and security cannot co-exist. We are a country founded first on the principles of freedom, not security. Every time that we ask to be kept safe from anything, we are forfeiting rights that are far more valuable than security. It is not the government's job to protect us from anything except that which threatens the full exercise of individual sovereignty. The Founders were very concerned with the forfeiture of rights for security because, throughout history, this misunderstanding of the government's purpose has caused the fall of every Republic into democracy and then tyranny. For more information on whose responsibility security is (and isn't), read about the Purpose of Government Here.

Those who would have us believe that it is wise to surrender our rights to government for potential protection are disrespecting (and ignorant of) this country's beginnings, the Founding Fathers, and most importantly, our individual sovereignty. Absolute security is only possible under absolute tyranny, which is a far greater threat to the people than not being secure. Recognition of our inherent freedom comes with risks that the government can never protect us from, but protecting us from these risks is not the government's responsibility. It cannot be stressed enough that these risks are far fewer than the potential for misuse of any undue authority we give any organization that acts with governmental authority. Legislation such as the Patriot Act has increased the ability of what we perceive as government (United States Inc.) to dictate what our rights are and dispense them to the people in a way which benefits the primarily the corporation and not the people.

Sovereignty Read More

Where our rights come from is up for debate because of the secular nature of our country today, but we know for certain that they are a consequence of each person's sovereignty. Our Founder's believed this sovereignty came from the Creator, but even if you don't believe in God, individual sovereignty is simply a reality of the human experience. This sovereignty of the individual is the understanding that we are all completely in control of and responsible for ourselves. We are free to conduct ourselves as we wish as long as our actions are within the Law. The concept of individual sovereignty has lost its due prominence in America today though it is one of the most essential American principles. Read More Here.

Finish the Fight

The ongoing battle with government to secure and respect the civil liberties of its citizenry can and has been used as defining landmarks in the history of both America and the world. With every citizen's awareness, we can establish these rights in their full, natural capacity so that the struggle will end, and we can close the chapters of oppression that have come before us. Exercising Our Civic Duty restores our Republic and re-establishes these inherent rights.

Other pages in this section:

• << Previous Page
|
• Site Map
|
• Back to the Top ^

• Links
|
• Research
|
• References
|
• Forum
|
• Contact Info

© 2006 OurCivicDuty.com Optimized for standards-compliant browsers.