To All Concerned: America’s founders gave us a Constitutional Republic. Because of them, we were born free. But we could die as slaves because we have, as a people, lost sight of these basic truths: 1) Freedom cannot exist without morality. Without sufficient character and moral fortitude, we cannot govern ourselves.

2) Ignorant and free can never be. Ignorance votes for the politician who promises the most. We will vote for more government until one day we have total government. Only a well-informed electorate will vote for people of principle – those who will limit the government to its proper role.

3) Our rights come from God. When God created humanity, He gave us certain unalienable rights. Rights existed before humans formed governments. The sole purpose of government is to protect these rights. Government cannot grant us rights we already have. And it can’t legislate out of existence our unalienable rights.

4) The essence of freedom is the limitation of government. Government is necessary to secure our God-given rights because humans are not angels. Because government officials are human, government power must be strictly limited and constantly held in check.

The U.S. Constitution limits the powers of the federal government. Nonetheless, much that the federal government does today is unconstitutional. This abuse of authority happens because we have forgotten basic truths. We will preserve our freedom for future generations only if we recall the wisdom of the Founders and get back to basics! Because humans created governments, and not vice versa, the rights of the government are based on the God-given rights of the individual. An individual has the right to defend his life, liberty, and property: therefore, he also has the right to join with others and form a government to protect those rights. An individual does not have the right to violate the rights of another, and neither does government. Government should be large enough to secure our God-given rights but not large enough to violate them.

Without organized government, anarchy would prevail. Ultimately, the criminals would take control and enslave their fellow citizens. Our rights also would not be secure under a system of total government. Communism and Nazism are not at opposite ends of the political spectrum as the public has been led to believe. Both are totalitarian and can take away your rights on a whim. Our rights can only be secured under a limited government. The Founders realized that government, like fire, had to be contained. And so they gave us a government of laws – not of men. The wise men created a republic and not a democracy. A democracy is majority rule and destroys liberty because there is no law to prevent the majority from trampling on individual rights. A lynch mob is a good example of pure democracy in action. There is only one dissenting vote and he is the one with the noose around his neck. The United States Constitution does not contain the word democracy. When we recite the Pledge of Allegiance to our flag, we say “to the Republic for which it stands”, not to the democracy. Reprinted with permission of the John Birch Society. By Lawrence Paulsen