Posted by
JayPeriod on Friday, November 30, 2007 10:38:41 AM
We have all heard that the "wall of separation" erected by Thomas Jefferson. This wall keeps all displays of religion out of the public domain. It came from a letter Jefferson wrote to the Danberry Baptists. Even though it was in a personal letter, not official government law, it has been used to restrict the religious expression clause of the First Amendment. All this despite the fact that Jefferson was in France at the time the Constitution was written.
So, I've done some research and found some other quotes from Jefferson which could be used to affect law in our nation. I'm sure those who lean so heavily on the Danberry letter would not do so on these quotes.
"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
This might be helpful to the Supreme Court as they decide whether the Right to Bear Arms is reserved for the government or the people.
"The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it."
There's one more they might consider.
"I think myself that we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labor of the industrious."
And this was before the welfare state we have now!
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."
Think IRS.
"God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The
people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is
wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the
facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions,
it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty.... And
what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned
from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance?
Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts,
pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or
two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the
blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."
How many people who want a "wall of separation" would also recommend an armed revolution every twenty years?
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the
government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of
taking care of them."
Simply put, the more the government "takes care of us," the less happiness we have. Makes sense to me.
"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."
Hello welfare, good-bye democracy.
"
An elective despotism was not the government we fought for."
And yet, that seems to be what we have now.
"
To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical."
And yet, there are those who feel we must provide for everyone's whims and wants.
These are but a few of the quotes of a founding father, who believed in a very limited government. Unfortunately, we have strayed so far from that today.