Saturday, July 4, 2020

Declaration of Principles


Declaration of Principles

IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE MAJORITY in a republic to protect the rights of the minority, but it is also important for the minority to honor the desires of the majority.  While a republic may not always protect the individual desires of the minority, a pure democracy will disregard the wishes of the minority and defer to the will of the majority.  A pure democracy by its very nature is controlled by those in power, and when deemed necessary, power will be exercised by the powerful for their benefit.

LIFE, LIBERTY, AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS are defined in the Declaration of Independence as unalienable rights.  While they are not Constitutional Rights, they are unalienable rights given to us by our “Creator.”  The rights in the First Ten Amendments to the Constitution known as the Bill of Rights are safeguards to preserving individuals’ unalienable rights to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.

LIFE IS A GIFT FROM THE CREATOR.  Only in rare circumstances should the life of another be taken, and then only as a matter of necessity or deliberate consideration.  As a gift from the Creator, we must do all in our power to preserve it, promote it, protect it, and sustain it.

LIBERTY IS RESPONSIBLE FREEDOM PROPOSED BY STATESMEN AND PAID FOR WITH THE BLOOD OF PATRIOTS.  Its foundation is celestial and eternal in nature.  It must be cherished, nourished, and guaranteed. 

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS IS AN OPPORTUNITY THAT MUST BE TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY THOSE WHO WANT HAPPINESS.  It must be earned and is measured not by wealth or possessions, but by inner peace that comes from doing what is right.

RIGHTS, GUARANTEED BY AGREEMENTS, DOCUMENTS, CONTRACTS, COVENANTS, AND CONSTITUTIONS are inseparably connected to responsibilities attendant to those rights.  Similarly, those rights are not merely gifts, but sacred possessions for which one must continually work for, strive for, and endeavor to achieve and retain.  They are the effects one may pursue as a matter of right.  Vigilance must be taken to assure that these rights are not taken away.  The first responsibility we have to those rights is to them.  Rights left unguarded, will be taken away one by one, beginning with what is perceived as the weakest link yet most threatening.  Once taken, rights will never return until a revolution takes place.  We are duty bound to protect ALL rights for ALL people.

NO GUARANTEED RIGHT CAN PREVAIL AT THE EXPENSE OF ANOTHER guaranteed right.  When any right prevails at the expense of another right, then all rights are susceptible to being denied and abolished.

GOVERNMENT, INSTITUTED BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE, properly dictates the actions of the people but can never and must never attempt to dictate the conscience of the people.  It may inform the people of facts, but should never interpret the mind and will of those who act nor should government tell the people what to think.

HISTORY, ADMITTED OR NOT, CANNOT BE ERASED because it has offended any segment of society.  Because an act in history offends the conscience does not mean that it did not happen nor does it mean that the memory of history should be deleted.  Not all history is worthy of celebration, but all history is worthy of recording.  Monuments to actors in history are reminders of successful and failed attempts at moving a community, a state, or the nation in a specific direction.  Often, the right course in history is defined by the winner in a conflict, whether morally correct or morally corrupt.  Descendants of those for whom monuments are built are entitled to the legacy of their past, whether deemed good or evil.  Rarely in history is a person found who is completely above reproach.

THE VALUE OF A PERSON cannot be determined by station in life, profession, occupation, wealth, color, race, national origin, religion, or gender.  Who a person is, is not based upon a label.  The value of a person is not based upon a label.  As we are endowed with unalienable rights by our “Creator,” then we are sons and daughters of that Creator.  That is who we are and that is our value.  All are of value.  The president and CEO of a corporation is no more valuable than the janitor who cleans the president’s office.  Were it not for the janitor, the CEO could not effectively and efficiently perform those duties.  Were it not for the CEO, the janitor would not have a job.  We are all interdependent.  We rely on one another to accomplish our goals.  One is not more valuable than the other.  Both the janitor and the CEO have the capacity to bring a corporation to its knees.  Value added in a station in life determines the value a person contributes, but not the value of the person.  The definition of success is not how high a person climbs the ladder of success but upon how complete a person fills a chosen role in life.  People are of divine nature and infinite worth.

FAMILIES STAND AS THE FOUNDATION OF OUR NATION and as such, parents have the responsibility to love, cherish, and rear their children by teaching them the correct principles of honesty, fidelity, loyalty, and charity.  They should provide for the welfare and protection of their children and to instruct and nurture them that they may become responsible adults.  In order to Preserve the Union the Union must first Preserve the Family, regardless of composition.

WHEN RIGHTS, CONSTITUTIONS, CONTRACTS, AND COVENANTS ARE VIOLATED OR THREATENED, then people have a duty to rise up and to do all within their power to protect and preserve those rights beginning with measurable and assertive means.

Gregory B. Talley
July 4, 2020

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