My son had to memorize the Rights of Americans this week. In case you don’t know the basic rights of Americans, here is the list that he had to memorize.
The right to worship God in one’s own way.
The right to free speech and press.
The right to petition for grievances—in fair and honest judgment.
The right to privacy in our homes.
The right to own private property.
The right to own, keep, and bear arms.
The right to move about freely at home or abroad.
The right to habeas corpus—without excessive bail.
The right to trial by jury—innocent until proven guilty
The right to free elections and personal secret ballots.
The right to the service of government as a protector and referee.
The right to freedom from arbitrary government regulation and control.
The right to work in callings and localities of our choice.
The right to bargain for goods and services in a free market.
The right to contract about our affairs.
The right to go into business, compete, and make a profit.
There you go! These are supposed to be the basic rights of all Americans. How far have we strayed from these rights? If you are like me, you may be wondering why this is even being taught in schools today. Is it simply to show the students and remind the parents what the country is supposed to endorse? Are these rights being taught in the hopes that one day, the next generation will carry the torch and return the country to these basic principles?
My son goes to a private school in the area. I applaud the schools that have embraced this curriculum and are doing their part to make the students of today the leaders of tomorrow. I wish this was taught in the public schools too. It will take many years and a dedicated effort to return to the ideals of our founders.
Don’t forget Jesus.
Could you give us a little more info on the ” Rights Of Americans? ” Who established them?, who enforced them?, when were they established? State law are federal law? Thanks
Gee, some how I don’t see “The right to move about freely at home or abroad” or “The right to free elections and personal secret ballots” or “The right to the service of government as a protector and referee.” or “The right to work in callings and localities of our choice.” or “The right to go into business, compete, and make a profit.” or “The right to freedom from arbitrary government regulation and control” anywhere in the actual language. Those are all IMPLIED rights – which ultimately mean one of those EVIL judges had to “legislate from the bench” to make sure you had them…
Jeff,
There is a nice piece at AmericanHeritage.org about The Rights of Americans. You are right that some of the rights are not explicitly mentioned in the Bill of Rights, but were implied in the Constitution. Check it out…
http://www.americanheritage.org/about_ahef.html
Implied or self evident?
I understand your point and I agree that Judges play an important role in our system of justice.
However I can tell you as a matter of established fact. That the majority of State level Judges and lawyers violate the law and our individual rights on a daily basis in the interest of time and revenue. Ask your Lawyer friend to explain quasi-criminal actions. Then ask where the rules of said procedures are published. I am not trying to pick a fight here as it seems your motives are pure. However there is a basic lack of understanding on both sides of the issue.I suspect that you and the activists are much closer on the issues than either side would care to admit.
If we are going to make Government work for us, we must find a point where we can begin a dialouge rather than just argue back and forth never understanding what the other is talking about.
Mr. Williams; I suspect you already know where these rights were established. They are in the words of our Founding Fathers, slef evident.
It was for the mutual defense of these rights that our Government was established. That is, all men being created equal, the defense of one is the defense of all. Too often we (society) set about violating the rights of an individual or a group because they commit some act that we do not approve of. Pornography,homosexual acts,animal fighting, etc.
When society attempts to justify violating the rights of one, they are in fact destroying the rights of all.