Natural Law: The Defining Difference

              The uniqueness and greatness of the United States stems directly from the founder’s  belief in Natural Law and how it defines the relationship between the government and its people. (Natural Law states that each individual has certain unalienable rights granted by the Creator such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness).  All other aspects of our founding sprang from this. The rule of law, limited government of, by and for the people. Republicanism.  The Constitution. Checks and balances.

             This led eventually to the United States, with approximately 5% of the world’s population, creating nearly as much  new wealth as the rest of the world combined. We have been the world’s ‘bread-basket’. American’s have been responsible for more discoveries and inventions in science and elsewhere than any nation on earth. The United States is nearly always the first nation to provide relief and aid to other nations that have had natural-or other- calamities, sometimes even providing aid to our enemies.  We have given more dollars in aid and relief than most-if not all- of the world’s other nations…combined.

            (Yet in spite of this-or perhaps because of this-we are often the target of the hate and envy of much of the world).

           Our success stems directly from our founder’s vision and understanding of Natural Law. If our rights don’t come from God, either we don’t have any…or they are bestowed on us by other men. If they can be granted by man, whether one person or a group of people (government, say), they can be denied or taken away by man as well. These ‘rights’ will be arbitrary and capricious. By definition then there is  no reason why imprisoning or killing Jews…or gays…or liberals…or Tea Partiers… is wrong. Can’t be wrong if the men responsible for granting rights or denying them deem this so.  Stalin didn’t like a lot of people…millions dead. Hitler…millions dead. Pol-Pot…millions dead. Etc., etc., etc. That is what governments do. Historically.  Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. And governmental power corrupts the people, too. The more powerful the government, the more corrupt it-and the people- become. The bigger the government, the smaller the people and vice-versa. The Founder’s genius and the basis for the United States’ unprecedented success was  the restraint of government.

           These critical ‘negative’ rights would finally protect the people from an overreaching government. That was our genius. Most of the people who settled this country were fleeing direct  persecution from government or fleeing the results of a non-representative, authoritarian state. Therefore our founders wanted to guard against abusive government. Government couldn’t take your property or your person.

           Government was to be of laws, not men and wasn’t to grant ‘rights’, but was instituted to secure each person’s Creator-endowed rights to life, liberty and property.

           If it weren’t for Natural Law, some of us could decide, for example, that unborn (or ‘slightly born’) babies had no rights and could just be killed outright by the millions.

           Oh.

           Things changed. Did they ever.

           Now the government can tell us what size soft-drinks we can buy.

           Restraint of government? Laughable.     

          In the Obama era, government aims to restrain the people.