July 4th thoughts from Samuel Adams

[progunner1957]

Samuel Adams, one of the greatest patriots, statesmen and thinkers America has ever been blessed with, understood well the concept of liberty - and the concept of tyranny. He also understood the concept of standing up and doing the right thing, which sadly seems to be lost in the America of 2006.

Licking the hand that feeds you

By Chuck Baldwin

Most Americans no doubt think of themselves as law-abiding, God-fearing people. However, when obedience to human law violates a man's inner conscience, the only moral alternative left him is faithfulness to his conscience. In fact, resistance to tyrannical laws forms the foundation of our heritage.

Where would America be without the exploits of the brave men at Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, and Lexington Green? Our history is immersed in a river of resistance to unjust laws. It appears, however, that many Americans today have forgotten Ben Franklin's maxim, "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." Current events suggest that they are more than willing to embrace a dictatorial police state.

Federal police abuse at Waco, Texas; Ruby Ridge, Idaho; and now at Klamath Basin, Oregon, reveal a lethargic population willing to overlook practically any injustice. To be sure, there was (and is) much resistance from local parties directly involved. To the vast population at large, however, there is nothing but complete indifference. To them, those who resist federal abuse are simply lawbreakers (or kooks) who deserve neither sympathy nor respect. It matters not if they go to jail, lose their farms, or burn to death. Had this generation been around back in 1775, America would still be a Crown colony today; and Washington, Henry and Revere would be regarded as ignoble traitors.

Fortunately, the generation of 1775 understood the difference between lawful authority and tyranny. The Father of the American Revolution, Sam Adams, said:

Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: first, a right to life; second, to liberty; third, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can. These are the evident branches of the duty of self-preservation, commonly called the first law of nature. All men have a right to remain in a state of nature as long as they please; and in case of intolerable oppression, civil or religious, to leave the society they belong to, and enter into another.

It should seem obvious to everyone that, for the past 40 plus years, numerous departments and agencies of our federal government have taken upon themselves the cloak of a conqueror and have repeatedly violated "the first law of nature." Unfortunately, this generation (unlike that of 1775) does not have a Washington or Adams to oppose them. Not only that, it appears that the vast majority of Americans today welcome additional federal encroachment into their lives.

Sam Adams reportedly told some British sympathizers:

If you love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave us in peace. We seek not your council, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen.

I wonder what he would say to us?

Source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=24211

 

[Sam Adams]

Thanks for quoting me...I was going to post this same stuff, but I was out quite late last night poisoning the Red Coats' horses, so I just got up.

 

[cbsbyte]

Sam, I love your beer.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Funny thing, so-called natural rights aren't natural at all, but a system of culturally defined morals, hence artificial constructs of humans. Strangely, this concept used by the American revolutionaries and described above in relation to Sam Adams shows up in some of the earliest western writings by Englishmen such as John Locke. It does predate western philosophers, but in relation to Adams, comes from those from which we wanted to separate.

Later was mentioned the first law of nature. Also, this was put forth by an Englishman, Thomas Hobbes in Leviathan. Missed by Baldwin that the first part of that first law of nature (more moral artifical constructs, of course) is that man should endeavor to peace and only after he doesn't feel he can attain it, resort to other means such as war...but PEACE first.

The 'duty of self preservation' is NOT the same thing as the first law of nature.

Baldwin is wrong in his assumptions of Americans welcoming government encroachment. He thinks that because they are not fighting against the goverment, they are welcoming it. They are not necessarily opposed. Many of the colonists did not care for the British Crown, but they did not fight either. Many would fight so long as it didn't cut into more important activities of their normal lives such as bringing in crops, planting crops, etc. Many people todady have the same concerns. If they fight, destabilize the government, the economy goes south and they lose their jobs, their families go without food, and all of a sudden government looks pretty good.

Baldwin may be right that we don't have folks to turn to like Adams and Washington who were there for the colonists. Why is that? Because we don't trust the super powerful and super wealthy as many of the founding fathers were. Do you trust Bill Gates, the heirs of Sam Walton, and the like? I doubt it.

What would Sam Adams think of us today? Simple. He would think we have things much better than he and his people ever would have imagined.

 

[shooter94]

It's been my experience voter apathy seems to be responsible for our current woes. People who think on the Conservative side are dwindelling...while we're being Colonized by illiterate thirdworlders. Those who are educated seem to be firmly entrenched on the Left. We cannot continue on the course we're on...changes will have to be made or we wont survive for very long.