March 22, 2005
The Resonance of an Oath I’ve Never Been Asked to Take
Two nights ago, I read the AnarchAngel’s post entitled Oaths. He quotes the oath he took when he was sworn in as an officer in the USAF. The point of the oath that he discusses focuses on the words “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” The force and fury of his convictions are such that I cannot do much except quote him:
All enemies foreign and domestic…
That passage is there for a reason; The framers of our government, who first set forth this oath in 1778, knew that there would be challenges both from within, and from without.
I believe that in these days, we face a greater challenge from within, than we have faced since April, 1861.
The people who have become the establishment of the state, have taken upon themselves more and more of those powers, rights, and priviliges reserved for the states; and for the people; and they are reaching for more every single day.
They have taken upon themselves the power to limit, or to abrogate those rights protected by the constitution.
They have taken upon themselves the power to limit, or to abrogate those rights inherent to us as men.
And we have let them.
I’m not a military man. I’ve never taken the oath of which he speaks. But the words that Chris speaks, and the oath that stand as their pillar of support, ring true to my ears and my soul.
The United States of America was begun as a grand experiment. The founders of this nation saw not a nation of subjects, but a nation of free men. They had stood by as they were oppressed, belittled, scoffed at, and generally mistreated by the Crown across the Atlantic. And they said “No more.” America was to be a society based not on the rule of people, but on the rule of law. The nation was built as an extension of the sovereignty of the individual, not as the source of the same. America at its founding was, compared to other nations, super-literate. They had seen what happens when oppression came from without, and knew that it could just as easily come from within. The founders expected the 2nd Amendment not to allow some members of society to carry weapons, they wanted and hoped America to be armed to the teeth. Nothing less could ensure that America would be safe from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –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. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
It seems to me that the founders of our nation knew what to do when faced with a government that no longer recognized its rightful purpose. They notice, especially, that we as humans tend to sit back and allow our chains to grow heavy before we act. We allow the abuses to mount and grow. We slumber.
It is time to wake up.
Chris said, in the comments section of his post, “I do not advocate a physical revolution, I advocate a personal revolution; a mental revolution; an emotional revolution; a revolution of honor.”
It is our right and our duty to throw off our government. The blogosphere has given us our voice, and our ability to organize. Battles of this sort are won and lost with the “hearts and minds”. Now that we have the ability to reach those hearts and minds, let’s win those battles.
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I said too much, including some things I would rather say later, as the situation develops. I did respond to the post on my blogsite –
http://www.bafterthefact.blogspot.com
and I hope you will look at it.
I don’t know if any of this writing is healing. Seems to be tearing things apart more and more.
I have to redraft everything I write, and even the “softened” versions are very strong
B,
I especially liked your quote: “The people who wish to defend the Constitution better wake up and go to war to defend it. The people against the Constitution have been wide awake for a very long time.”
I don’t want this entry to devolve into a Terry Schiavo discussion, but suffice to say that Congress has chosen to put their will above the rule of law. I think the rumblings we saw in the federal courts yesterday showed that the judges weren’t buying it.
But you are entirely right in that the people against the Constitution have been willfully trying to destroy its limits on the power of government for as long as this country existed. As long as the citizens understood the principles of the nations founding, we were safe. But that has ceased to be the case. Now, few people have any idea what the Constitution says, even fewer have read it, and even fewer understand what it means. Changing this is the first step to changing the world.
The power to vote may seem to be a waiting game that takes a long time to accomplish; however, that is the established process for correcting issues without having to resort to anarchy.