Government Must Preserve and Defend the Sacred Freedoms of All Individuals

[520 words]

What is government but a collection of individuals working together to manage the affairs of a larger population? As individuals, each government worker has a choice. Will they recognize their equal status with every citizen of their country and work as servants to protect the sacred rights of all, or will they be corrupted by their power, as Lord Acton warned, and steer their government toward tyranny?

The American Founding Fathers knew well that every person must strive to be of good character and avoid the corruption of power. They also knew that ultimately no one can be trusted, since absolute power corrupts absolutely. Thus, they created a brilliant and unprecedented system of checks and balances to protect individual citizens from the ever-present danger of totalitarianism.

Their efforts were based on the self-evident truths that all humans were created equal with unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that were given to them by an Intelligent Creator, not by a government. To protect citizens against the tyranny of government, the Founders articulated and codified our unalienable rights in the US Constitution, most especially in the Bill of Rights.

The First Amendment’s protection of freedom of religion and freedom of speech must be guarded at all costs from both political and cultural totalitarianism. If we cannot talk about everything, no matter how much certain topics might offend others, we will inevitably slide into tyranny. How can a people be free with tape over their mouths?

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