Why was America founded – on what principles?
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Why was America founded – on what principles?
We continually hear people say, “That isn’t American.” Or, “Our America heritage is being stolen.” We have just witnessed “tea parties” demanding lower taxes and many on the right say taxes are against basic American principles.
So why was America founded? What were the reasons our founding fathers created America?
A good place to start is the Preamble to our Constitution. This is but one paragraph but it gives us the basic reasons. If we look closely at this we can judge some of the statements thrown around about what is and isn’t American.
“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The reasons are clear:
- Form a more perfect union
- Establish justice
- Insure domestic tranquility
- Provide for the common defense
- Promote the general welfare
- Secure the blessings of liberty to all
We would all be better off if we read these along with the Commandments of Jesus Christ each day. If you look closely you can see the hand of Jesus in what our founding fathers wrote.
Matthew 22:39
39"The second is like it, YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.'
Matthew 7:12
GOLDEN RULE -
12 “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
Certainly “Promote the general welfare” sounds a lot like the two commandments above.
I’m also sure that “promote the general welfare” doesn’t include a lot of what our government has done over the past decade.
· Lower the taxes for the rich (including 400 billionaires) while cutting programs for the poor
· Give $2 trillion in taxpayer bailout money to banks and Wall Street companies that committed massive fraud
· Allowing American corporations to keep hundreds of billions in corporate profits off-shore to avoid paying tens of billions in corporate income taxes
· Providing tax benefits to corporations that move middle class American jobs to Communist China
· Supporting the Communist dictatorship in China, a country with no freedom of speech, no freedom of the press and no freedom of religion – no democracy
None of the above “Promote the general welfare.”
Many of the activities of our government don’t comply with “Establish justice” and “Secure the blessings of liberty to all.”
- Illegal wire taps on millions of Americans
- Holding prisoners without granting them any rights to a hearing, an attorney or a trial
- Allowing the rich to pay less as a percentage of their income than millions in the middle class – Warren Buffett brags he only paid a 17% income tax rate while his secretary and many who work for him paid twice that rate
As for those carrying the signs in the recent “tea party” demonstrations, nowhere in the Preamble or the Constitution does it say taxes must be low. The only requirement for taxes is that they comply with the reasons given above. If they comply they are by definition America.
Email your elected representative and tell them what you think.
