I intend to do a series of blog posts about the role of government in America and I hope to be able to get some people to start thinking things through a little more. I freely admit, as a product of American schools I know very little about history. If I am mistaken about anything, please comment and let me know. If possible, direct me to a publication that can tell me what I got wrong. Also, I'd love feedback and direction, if there's anything you are specifically interested in learning more about.
My goal is partly to educate and partly to encourage people to think logically about the situation around them. These posts may seem skimpy to some of you, but I intend to keep it that way to try to ensure people actually read them. So my apologies to those of you who want more meat, but perhaps that will come in time.
All that being said, here's post numero uno. Let's start with the basic founding principles.
Some people would say that our country was founded on Christian principles. While in a sense this is true, they are hardly the same sort we consider Christian principles to be today. Our founding fathers were considered radicals at the time--they believed in individual rights and limited government in a time of monarchies and authoritarian government. Yes, they were all Christians, but they had their own ideas about what that meant, and most importantly, they considered it a God-given right to hold their own opinions and practice religion as each individual saw fit. The purpose of the separation of church and state was to ensure that no government could regulate the practice of any religion. If you are able, take a step back and think about it this way: in the end, your religion is your opinion on how life began and what happens when it ends. Thus, the founders' point was that the government should have no control over the opinions you form, as long as your actions do not interfere with the rights of others.
Rights, they believed, are only given by God. The government's job is to protect our ability to take advantage of our rights, NOT to provide us with them. We are all born with the same rights. We may not be born equal (there will always be children born into wealth, people that are healthier, smarter, or stronger than others), but we all have the chance to better ourselves, and no government should be able to limit in what way you better yourself. Opportunity for education, freedom to move and make a new start, freedom to experiment with different religions, politics--all of that! It's all about expanding your mind, and having the chance to learn new ideas. The founding fathers believed every person should have that chance, and that no governing power should be able to limit it. The world around them at the time was full of restrictions. Only aristocratic families could attend certain schools, patronize certain shops, etc. They believed that your blood should have nothing to do with who you are, or who you could be.
This intense respect for privacy and individualism greatly influenced the principles of government they aspired to maintain as they framed the Constitution. Because of their respect for individual rights, the most important tenet they held was that the federal government should be severely limited, particularly the power of the president. The real power and day-to-day governing was meant to be left to local and state governments--the federal government's job was solely to protect the rights and properties of its citizens.
My next post will go over the Constitution as it was originally written, and then we'll get into the amendments that have passed over the years.
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