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elancaster65, marcopolo, T-rex and 2 others like this
Tweaked the title just a tad for this site because I honestly don't think many here conceptually misunderstand the first three words; quite the opposite.
Nothing very new here regarding individual rights, but I liked the line that Europe is a product of history while America is a product of a philosophy. I have always intended to dig more deeply into the Enlightenment Philosophers who influenced our Founders, but I have not gotten around to it yet. So I end up enjoying any article that discusses the topic. Hence the mint here...
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elancaster65 7 years, 4 months ago
This:
"Thus, “We the People” signals that the Constitution, rather than being an open-ended document intended to enable majority rule, is in (George) Will’s words a “a device for limiting government, including government’s translation of majority desires into laws and policies when those conflict with government’s business of securing the natural rights of individuals.”
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marcopolo 7 years, 4 months ago
Great article, succinctly expressed. We do not derive our rights from the government, and the government does not grant us our rights. Our rights are natural, inalienable and God-given. Our Constitution is based upon this principle, and is designed to limit the reach of government into these rights. Thank you for posting this.
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Chet_Manly 7 years, 4 months ago
I appreciate the accuracy of both comments above.
Knowing this community, I changed the title from "Most" to "Many".
I believe this group of gentlemen are largely outliers on the socitial bellcurve.
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JMacIV 7 years, 4 months ago
Great article! Sorry to be nit picky, but I think it's more accurate to say that many get the meaning of the first 3 words wrong rather than getting the actual words wrong. Although with our government education system it wouldn't surprise me if you walked up to people and asked for the first 3 words; they'd look at you and say, "Constitution?"
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Chet_Manly 7 years, 4 months ago
No, I think you're spot on.
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