Warning: This blog is under the influence of the Holy Spirit. (That's actually a blessing of course. I'm just trying to be fair to the skeptics.)



Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Getting Ourselves Off the Hook Pt. 2

The Right Firearms and the Right to Self Defense

Go to the Introduction

Part 2 -The Common Good and the Dignity of the Human Being

Governments are created to serve the common good of man.
But, the common good must be held in balance with the dignity of the human being, which is its foundation.  The common good should never crush that. When it does, the human being is deprived of its truer nature.  The common good, which seeks the best for all men, is no longer attainable because the fundamental aspects of humanity are undermined.
Put another way, we don’t start with the common good because it fails if the person is not considered first.
In American terms, we speak of this as liberty, freedom and rights.   
“Liberty is the soul’s right to breath”- Beecher.
Our American Republic exists to uphold and protect our God given rights “first and foremost” as outlined in the constitution. Our government does not provide us with those rights. The Gov does not have the authority to do that, only God.
While the Gov does have an obligation to protect its people, that protection begins first with the individual, people at the family and local level. When the Gov interferes or impedes with that particular individual human capacity, it’s no different than an imposition of slavery; the decent to which begins from here.
We, who become dependent on the Gov for our God given rights, places the Gov before the God.
We are a government OF the People, not the other way around. The power source, the energy if you will, of our government to protect us is…us.
The dignity and rights of the human being to exist FREELY is to be upheld over the government’s power to govern.
In other words, the government cannot do its thing if it steps on our God given rights.  Furthermore, when we speak of the government  protecting us; it’s primarily from foreign powers. Internal matters of self-defense (i.e. criminal conduct etc.) are the province of local government and the family. We have the right to protect ourselves and others as individuals first. We must not place ourselves beholden to anyone for protection in a “primary sense.”
This individual power can and should manifest itself to the higher levels by natural extension (i.e. the common good.) But, it starts with the individual and works its way up to form the common good.
Secondarily, we must have a level of protection for those who cannot protect themselves. We also need it to maintain order. This is where the need for the common good rises.
The common good creates the necessary social conditions for the human person (Individually and collectively) to fulfill the ends they were created for. Not just a heavenly end but justice here on earth as well.
Without the common good, we are left with anarchy.
The Catholic Church is not inconsistent with this when we speak of self defense.
“Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.”  CCC 2265
This authority to protect not only rests with the government (common good) but with the individual too (the human being.)  For it would be illogical to assume that authority does not exist over oneself or in the family.
We can therefore say, the common good rises from the powers proper to the individual.
We the People Police
Some might argue that the police can and will protect us. This is true but only in a macro sense. The level of protection they provide is secondary to our own.  
I find it interesting that in America many forget our true purpose and responsibility when we speak of policing. Perhaps, this is because we separate and compartmentalize our lives for convenience and efficiency.
However, I believe in many instances it has led to sloth. Sloppiness in thinking leads us to sloppy action and neglected responsibility.
Modern policing is based upon the development of principles and methods first realized by the father of modern policing, Sir Robert Peel. Among those principles is one that sums up the police and citizen role succinctly:  
“The police should maintain a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police.  The police are just members of the public who are paid to give full attention to the duties incumbent on every citizen.”
Yes, that’s right. We the people actually have duties that are incumbent on us. We the people are the police too. We just pay professional police officers to exercise our individual and collective duty so we can go about our business without having to deal with all that yucky stuff.
This is good and proper. We need professionals in a complex world such as ours.
I might hire a professional plumber to replace my leaky sink trap. But, with a simple thing like that I should be able to handle it myself as well. Needless to say, I might want to hire a plumber to re-plumb my entire home.
I can treat a common cold myself or provide basic first aid for myself or a loved one. But, it would be imprudent for me to perform even simple surgery.
Speaking in terms of policing, defending oneself is a relatively simple and elemental thing. Conducting a complex homicide investigation would require a professional.
All analogies aside, however, human life is sacred. Protecting life is elemental; as such it is a duty of all human beings. We don’t have to look to someone else to do it in every instance. We have the right and duty to protect it.
We have the right to exist, to breathe, and to live.
Life, above all other rights, is the pillar on which everything else rests. It is the basis for freedom. Once that right has been degraded or impeded, we are no longer free.
“Soldiers do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages.” Lk 3:14
Unfortunately, in setting down this path, leaving our protection to others, there lurks a danger.  We eventually see them as our sole protectors. This is a dangerous slope.
For, when we do this, we give away our freedom and make ourselves subjects to those who have the power of protection. 
Left without proper grounding, protectors naturally tend to see themselves as aloof and elite. Cut off, they are no longer part of those they protect. A natural resentment can take hold giving rise to arrogance and greed. A lust for greater power is inevitable.  
Likewise, those who need protecting make themselves more and more ineffectual, even irrelevant. They require a level of order and security but having turned over that responsibility to “them,” their ability to solve or participate in problem solving is undermined. The so called experts now have control. This places the protected subject to the whims and power of the protectors and those in power who control them.
The divide widens.  The cost steepens. The consequences can be sorrowful.
In free society, only the fully empowered human being collaborating with others to form communities, including other groups and organizations, makes possible a just common good.
Without a vigorous level of participation and engagement by the individual, power always coalesces around those who are participating, or those willing to seize it. Ergo, sharing in the responsibility lightens the burden for everyone and spreads the power.
Our right and duty to protect ourselves, our loved ones, our sisters and brothers in our communities, is granted to us by God. We have therefore the right to acquire the tools to do so, proportionate with the age we live. For denying the means for self defense is tantamount to not only placing our protection solely in the hands of others, but the right to self defense itself.
Whether we do this voluntarily, permit it by inaction, or have it taken from us, we do in fact give ourselves unto tyranny and slavery.


Go to Part 3 The Militia. An Antiquated Term?

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