The Confederacy was a failed attempt at a co-op among the 13 colonies whose revolution made them sovereign nations. When the Confederacy failed, the need for unification became clear. Each of these nations/states had their own constitution. Those 13 constitutions protected the rights of the people from the oppression they had just escaped. Today, Constitution Day 2019, we celebrate 13…Continue reading Celebrating 13 Constitutions
Tag: #legislation
The process of creating law by a political body, usually of elected representatives of the citizenry.
The Fallacy that Became a Wall of Separation
The logical fallacy behind the wall of separation between church and state has been hidden in plain sight for over two centuries. A little logic reveals the misconception and explains its power to legalize prejudice. Because the wall is founded on an inadvertent delusion, we should expect to find symptoms of that error on both sides of the wall. And…Continue reading The Fallacy that Became a Wall of Separation
The Resurgent States of America
The “United States of America” has become a misnomer. In 1776, “state” and “nation” were synonyms. The USA could have been named “The United Nations of America”, the UNA. After pushing the British off our shores, the colonies became independent nations but they usually called themselves states. The founders’ goal was to create a federation of these nations, a political…Continue reading The Resurgent States of America
Even Rocks Have Rights
This seems like a strange, maybe even oxymoronic topic. Yet because of the simple nature of a rock, you may soon experience the most profound understanding of human rights you have ever had. So bear with me a moment while I set the stage. This special rock is from my flower bed. For me, it represents the extraordinary yet ordinary…Continue reading Even Rocks Have Rights
Church and State: an Oxymoron
The US Constitution has been successful because the founders based it on a frightful respect for the wiles and greed of powerful people. They examined governments ancient and modern and weighed their advantages and disadvantages. Their goal was to create a government that channeled human nature. The ongoing quest for religious freedom under the moniker “separation of church and state”…Continue reading Church and State: an Oxymoron
Human Rights: How to Know Them
A simple way to identify natural human rights is to ask the question, “Can this creature do so and so? If the answer is yes, then the natural right is obvious. If he can do it, he has the agency, the authority, the power, and therefore the right to do it. That’s an easy and powerful way to discover a…Continue reading Human Rights: How to Know Them
The Physics of Morality
One of my readers suggested I treat the relativity theory of truth that many generation Y people have adopted, so that is my goal here today. This morality “theory” is often expressed this way, “What works for me is true for me and what works for you is true for you.” It strikes me first of all as a simple,…Continue reading The Physics of Morality
Abstraction: a Legislative Trap
One of the interesting things the human mind can do is to use abstractions. We can think and talk of carrots and crops. Carrots are real physical things. You can eat one. The word “Crops”, on the other hand, means plants grown to be harvested.”Crops” is an abstract idea that covers all kinds of things. But you can’t eat an…Continue reading Abstraction: a Legislative Trap
The Blog and the Book
The writing of the book, Church and State, A Citizen’s Guide, is the main thread of this blog that I’m using to hone my comprehension and articulation of the issues – and some relevant history. Meanwhile, as an interesting or difficult issue comes to mind, I may treat it here. I like to delve deeply, sleuth out the fundamentals and understand whats behind…Continue reading The Blog and the Book