This, gentlemen, is our birthright.... And in this matter we are in the most unyielding dilemma. For if there is no higher law, there is no basis for saying that any man-made law is unjust...; and in such case, the ultimate reason for things, as Justice Holmes himself conceded, is force. If there is no natural law, there are no natural rights; and if there are no natural rights, the Bill of Rights is a delusion, and everything which a man possesses -- his life, his liberty and his property -- are held by sufferance of government, and in that case it is inevitable that government will some day find it expedient to take away what is held by a title such as that. And if there are no eternal truths, if everything changes, everything, then we may not complain when the standard of citizenship changes from freedom to servility and when democracy relapses into tyranny.
-- Harold R. McKinnon, The Higher Law, 1946
1 Comments:
At 5:22 PM,
KC said…
"are held by sufferance of government, and in that case it is inevitable that government will some day find it expedient to take away what is held by a title such as that. And if there are no eternal truths, if everything changes, everything, then we may not complain when the standard of citizenship changes from freedom to servility and when democracy relapses into tyranny."
How Sad we have reached this exact precipice now. Many have forgotten , "WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT". That we know in our hearts, no explanation needed, that we are free people with rights endowed to us upon our birth that NO MAN shall be able to remove.
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