May 26, 2010 I would like to conclude my thoughts on natural law before moving on to more concrete discussions. One author (Richard J. Maybury, "Whatever Happened to Justice") described natural law as the bare necessities for survival. When these laws are not obeyed, our survival is threatened. He said the two fundamental laws are "Do all you have agreed to do" and "Do not encroach on other persons or their property." When these laws are obeyed, community and commerce proceed peacefully. When they are disobeyed, conflict begins. If one person violates these laws, we can rightfully defend ourselves. Experience shows that a formal governmental process for this defense is best when one is not in exigent circumstances. However, when the power of the governmental process is co-opted as a shield for those who seek to violate natural law, government naturally becomes a perpetual source of conflict. There is always a lot of talk about "rights", but many fail to realize that those rights are inseparable from laws. Your right to any degree of freedom is subject to the rights of everyone else to their freedom. For a group of people to be free, they must not encroach on each other. It does not matter if the intellectuals or the wealthy or the majority agree to the encroachment, it will still end in conflict. Our nation was founded on a respect for these inherent truths and has prospered to the extent it continued to respect them. Other nations suppose that the will of a tyrant or a majority supersedes natural law, and they suffer the continual effects of internal conflict. The face of America has changed because people and their politicians pursue rights while forgetting their responsibilities. My goal over the next few months will be to show how the government can be changed to conform to natural law, both in its restraint and in its activity. The key question to the coming discussion is "How would liberty tempered by the justice of natural law affect me and how can we achieve it?"

Archives November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 March 2010