Can anyone tell me the first law, and from whence it originated? The first recorded law is found in Genesis 2:17, and it states, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”

God created man, and therefore it is He alone who has the authority to tell us what we can, and cannot do. Our rights flow from our Creator, as proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence, “…all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

It is only when men willingly surrender their rights, or when tyrants enforce laws at the threat of imprisonment or death, that our rights are forfeited. Throughout time eternal it is only by the actions of man that our unalienable rights have been limited.

Our Declaration of Independence was not just a document that proclaimed our independence from Britain, it was a statement on the origins of mans rights. Each of us is a sovereign independent being, entitled to the same equal rights as the person living next to us in squalor, or the one living in the mightiest of mansions.

When our founders drafted our Constitution, they granted our government specific powers to manage the affairs of the Union. Those powers are found in Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution. Our government has no powers beyond those specifically listed, no matter how much the public clamors for them, or how expedient they may appear.

Also, included in our Constitution are certain amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, placing certain rights off limits to government. What this means is that under no circumstances may government, be it State or Federal, enact laws which infringe upon those rights.

It simply is a breach of contract for the government to simply assume undelegated powers for the public good, or, as it is commonly known, the general welfare. Such a breach of contract renders the law null and void, because there is no Constitutional basis for its enactment. Therefore, the people are not bound to obey such a law.

What happens when a citizen refuses to obey a law that the citizen deems unconstitutional? They are arrested and drug before a court of law. What is this court of law? It is merely a place where grievances are heard and judgment rendered according to the law. And what is the Supreme Law of the land? Why, none other than the Constitution. Therefore the Constitution supersedes any law written by government. In other words, if the Constitution does not delegate the authority to enact a law regarding a certain matter, then any law passed by government upon that matter is null and void. Therefore the court should rule in favor of the accused. Yet that is not how our system works.

These men and women who sit it our State and National capital are elected by us, to represent us, according to the law as stated in the Constitution. Nothing more, nothing less. They are the defenders of our rights, not those who take it upon themselves to limit our rights when they deem it in our best interests.

These judges, who sit in these courts of law, are merely men, and women, just like us, who have been appointed by those whom we elect to represent us, to uphold the law. It is not their place to interpret the law, or to take the law into their own hands. They merely monitor the proceedings and ensure the law is upheld.

What does one do when nobody respects their rights? Well, at one point in our nations history a group of states decided that they had had enough of being members of this union. They decided to severe their ties and secede. It matters not whether it was over the issue of slavery or not. It was entirely their right to severe their ties and form a new union of their own.

Remember, our Declaration of Independence was a severance of our ties with England. It stated, “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

That’s all it says, that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. Yet Abraham Lincoln took our nation to war to prevent this separation. Where in the Constitution does it say that an acting president can declare war upon states that wish to dissolve their allegiance to the union?

In a letter written to James Madison, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The question Whether one generation of men has a right to bind another, seems never to have been started either on this or our side of the water. Yet it is a question of such consequences as not only to merit decision, but place also, among the fundamental principles of every government.”

When these men and women, whom we have elected, assume for themselves the power that God alone has, that to infringe upon our rights, it is time we stand up and take notice.

When the people allow their rights to be trampled upon they grant their consent to those infringements by their silence. When an individual stands up for their rights, they are quickly chewed up and spit out by a legal system that has been corrupted to ignore our rights, and uphold the laws created by man.

Not only do the courts run roughshod over our rights, but numerous government agencies exist whose sole purpose is to act as enforcers of these unconstitutional violations of our rights. Even our local police forces are militarized to enforce laws that have no basis under the Constitution.

I am trying, and trying, to make people aware that their rights are being taken from them. I appear to be failing. People are to well indoctrinated in the belief that government is their ruler. When in fact our founders believed that all power is derived from the people. If that be the case, it is also within our power to revoke that power should it be found to infringe upon our rights.

As our Declaration of Independence says, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

But that takes courage, to stand up to your government and demand that your rights be respected. As Mark Twain wrote in his notebook, “In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.”

As long as we the people cow tow to these unconstitutional laws, we will continue to see more and more of them enacted which further infringe upon our rights and our liberty.

I imagine that there are many in this country who would willingly surrender all their rights as long as they had a roof over their head, food to eat, and a big screen TV to watch.

However, there are many who have their own personal lines in the sand, lines where they have declared that they will not tolerate one more violation of their rights. I see a time coming when people will stand their ground, and blood will be spilled. Do I want this to happen? No, of course not. It could be prevented if people would only demand that now new laws be enacted which are not authorized by the Constitution. It could be prevented if people demanded that all unconstitutional laws be repealed.

Do I expect that to happen? The answer to that is no as well. I fear that blood is on the horizon. I do not fear what is coming, I only fear what may be left of this country in the aftermath. If you were to study history, you may also find that you fear that as well.

Maybe now I can fall asleep…

~ The Author ~
Neal Ross can be reached for comments at bonsai@syix.com. Visit Neal’s Blog at http://www.zombie-slayer.com/neal