I came across this photo, which I like very much:
Well, I guess that I don’t like the photo all that much, but I certainly like the captions.
Two facts should stand out when considering the Second Amendment. First: it is not a grant of a right. The government does not create rights. Instead, it is a prohibition against the federal government infringing on a right that already exists. Second: the purpose of an armed citizenry was to make government tyranny impossible. Our right to guns is not based on the need to protect ourselves from local punks, it is based on our right to be free from government tyranny.
Jefferson said “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time. The hand of force [he meant government] may destroy, but cannot disjoin them.” Rights come from God and they are intact even when government uses force to deny the free exercise of those rights. The right to keep and bear arms is one of those rights.
"The government does not create rights."
I wonder if there are many people who still understand this sentence, or, if there are any, anymore, who believe it?
Carl.
P.S.
What did you mean about the "smoking" comment? (Did it have to do with the "links/ads" I added?)
Oh yeah, I’ve been wondering…what do you teach?
What do I teach? At CBU I taught Patristics (the church fathers), American church history, and Christian Thought from 1650 to 1945.