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Sworn upon the Altar of God
by A.X. Perez
[email protected]

Attribute to L. Neil Smith's The Libertarian Enterprise

In 1800 Thomas Jefferson wrote the following:

Their hostility is on too interesting ground to be softened. The delusion into which the X. Y. Z. plot shewed it possible to push the people; the successful experiment made under the prevalence of that delusion on the clause of the constitution, which, while it secured the freedom of the press, covered also the freedom of religion, had given to the clergy a very favorite hope of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of Christianity thro' the U. S.; and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the Episcopalians & Congregationalists. The returning good sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes, & they believe that any portion of power confided to me, will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly; for I have sworn upon the altar of god, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.

I have put in bold italics the part that is of interest to the rest of this missive. This part refers to the infamous Alien and Sedition Act. Mr. Jefferson was referring to the fond hope of certain would be theocrats that having repudiated freedom of speech and press, the American people were ready to repudiate separation of Church and State. He saw that destroying one liberty under the Bill of Rights led to the destruction of all of them.

Back in the Eighties I read a number of articles in various gun rags claiming that to enforce a gun ban, or even other "lesser" gun control laws, would require trashing the Fourth Amendment, just for starters. Others have argued that the second Amendment guarantees the rest of the Bill of rights, that the right to keep and bear arms put the necessary tools in our hands to forcibly defend our other rights.

Now the press, which has supported gun control laws, which has called us paranoid for claiming that to compromise one right endangers and in fact destroys them all has discovered that their "heroes" in the administration has absolutely no respect for their rights. Not to freedom of the press, not to be secure in their persons and records.

Of course, those of us who read and write for TLE are less than surprised.

Allow me to reiterate what so many have said for years, the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing.

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