Some heartfelt thoughts about the Supreme Court's ruling on the Affordable Care Act, and our individual liberties ...
In the Declaration of Independence, several men staked their lives on the belief, among others, that all men have been endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights.
Among them is the right to liberty.
With the upholding of this legislation by the Supreme Court, our right to liberty - in this case the liberty of not buying health insurance - must be paid for, and is therefore no longer truly liberty or an unalienable right.
Put another way, we no longer have the right to live free because by merely being alive, we are now taxed for doing so.
Thomas Paine in "Common Sense" stated that when republican virtue fails, slavery ensues.
The founding fathers, in their wisdom, guaranteed republican virtue as a cornerstone of our governing principles by very narrowly enumerating the powers of the federal government, while leaving all other power to the states. Now that the federal government has the authority to charge us for our liberty, clearly republican virtue has failed, and we are to become slaves to the healthcare state if we do not buy back our freedom.
Religious freedom was established as a cornerstone of our rights as a citizen of these United States.
No less than the first amendment to the Constitution states that Congress shall make no law respecting the "establishment of religion" or "prohibiting the free exercise thereof."
The founders saw the problems associated with the national church in England, and the Holy Roman Catholic Church in other European countries, and ensured as a matter of right that we would not have a national church in the United States.
On the other hand, it takes a great deal of hubris to deny the impact that a belief in Providence or God, had on the founding fathers as they crafted the fundamental guiding principles of our country.
Therefore, even a cursory review of their writings indicates how very important they felt a citizen's individual belief in a providential power was to the ultimate success and survival of the fledging United States.
With the advent of the Affordable Care Act, we are moving very far away from the guaranteed free practice of religion explicitly stated in the First Amendment.
Church-related employers and sole proprietors must now provide medical benefits for abortion and sterilization.
For many, this is absolutely in conflict with their personal religious beliefs.
In fact, with this act we now have the Federal Government explicitly endorsing the elimination of life.
I now come full circle, back to the Declaration of Independence.
First among our inalienable rights is the right to life. The Affordable Care Act will ensure that, not only will we have to pay for our liberty, but many will be denied life itself paid for through the very government created to protect it.
Since 1860, there has never been a more important election regarding the future direction and survival of our country. The differences between the competing parties have never been more pronounced and obvious.
Please think carefully about the fundamental values that were established for this nation by our founding fathers when you enter the voting booth this November.
Steve Sliver
Huntingdon
