"Make yourselves sheep and the wolves will eat you." - Benjamin Franklin ___ "Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the people's liberty's teeth." George Washington ___ "It never troubles the wolf how many the sheep may be." Sir Francis Bacon ____ "I do believe that where there is a choice only between cowardice and violence I would advise violence." Mohandas Gandhi ____ "If indeed all men were Christians, and every nominal Christian was led by the spirit of Christ, there would be absolutely no need of the sword; for there would be nothing but justice, truth, and love in the world. But reason dictates, that, so long as the wicked shall use the sword in support of vice, the righteous, who are in power, must use it in defense of virtue." From a sermon, 'The Bible and The Sword' by John Fletcher, London, 1776.

I disagree EGL. The federal government is constantly usurping powers rightly belonging to the states. I can't think of a single instance in modern history where a stale law has been allowed to supercede a federal law. If they can't or don't want to control states directly with their unconstitutional laws, they do it indirectly by trickling money back into the state on condition of their agreement to follow federal mandates. Money, by the way, which was unconstitutionally confiscated from the state's own citizens. I don't know why the states don't buck against this shell game. Maybe, like you said, the state leaders like it that way so they can pass the buck to the federal government.

Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent ... the greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well meaning but without understanding. Louis Brandeis, United States Supreme Court Justice in Olmstead vs. United States, 1928

" 'Necessity' is the plea for every infringement of human liberty; it is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."--William Pitt (1759-1806) British Prime Minister (1783-1801, 1804-06) during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars. Source: Speech, House of Commons, 18 November 1783

David, the quote said "voluntarily". The Soviet Union collapsed under the weight of communism.

"Good intentions will always be pleaded for every assumption of authority. It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to govern. They promise to be good masters, but they mean to be masters." Daniel Webster "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive ... those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." -- C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) British novelist

That's the basis of almost all gun control laws and most other laws which take away liberty from those who don't commit crimes. "False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crime."--Cesare Beccaria, quoted by Thomas Jefferson. Here is an outstanding quote that really gets to the heart of this issue: "But to ban guns because criminals use them is to tell the innocent and law-abiding that their rights and liberties depend not on their own conduct, but on the conduct of the guilty and the lawless, and that the law will permit them to have only such rights and liberties as the lawless will allow. ... For society does not control crime, ever, by forcing the law-abiding to accommodate themselves to the expected behavior of criminals. Society controls crime by forcing the criminals to accommodate themselves to the expected behavior of the law-abiding." – Jeff Snyder, "Who's Under Assault in the 'Assault Weapon' Ban?", American Rifleman, October 1994, p. 53; excerpted from the Washington Times, August 25, 1994

I never thought of it that way. We always believe a dictator is bad, but a single-minded group can act the same way. That's the reason I so respect the founders - they were intellectual giants the likes of which are nowhere to be found in politics today. When I hear someone like Al Gore say the Constitution is a "living document" implying that people like him should have the ability to rewrite it, it just makes me sick.

I agree 100% with Mike, Norwalk

People are hard to control if they have too much liberty.

,,, and the taxpayers (read slaves to the State) are the guarantors of that debt.

READ THIS: http://www.jpfo.org/veterans.htm

Our enduance of tyranny is obviously very high. As long as the powers that be continue to provide "bread and circuses" we won't rock the boat. The scary thing is that one day it will be too late. That will be the day when we are finally convinced to give up our arms. Those who will fight then will be few and easy to overcome. "If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may be even a worse fate. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." Winston Churchill

I really like this website and these quotes, and I like the comments by the regular readers. They encourage me to see there are others out there who believe like I do, and they challenge me and make me think. I only wish some of the discussions could be continued like in a bulletin board or forum format. After a few days the qoutes and comments just disappear into cyberspace.

David has a good point though. You can't have a revolution without a good plan to replace the current government. I believe our SYSTEM of government and our Constitution is good. We just need people with principle who will foolow it. What do you think this country would look like if every law which didn't meet Constitutional muster was erased?

This quote was echoed by Jefferson - "And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms....The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants" --Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William S. Smith in 1787. Taken from Jefferson, On Democracy p. 20, S. Padover ed., 1939

David and Mike, I have gone through the same struggles in trying to mesh my faith with my love of and strong beliefs in liberty. There are very few people in modern Christianity who you can ask these questions to. Much of the modern church was changed by communist influences in the first half of the 20th century, so much of the spirit of our Christian founders has been lost. A good source of information on this topic is David Barton's Wallbuilders organization (http://www.wallbuilders.com/). PS: Tar and feathering is a tradition which needs to be revived. Although some in politics deserve hanging, I would be OK with tar and feathers as long as they are run out of Washington forever.

This one's not as politically correct, but I like it better ... “Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” - H.L. Mencken

Rattle our cage doors? That's pathetic. Talk about a slave mentality.

Yeah right Robert. How might that happen? We traded big government, power-hungry, neocons for big government, power-hungry socialists. I'm sure things are gonna get better ... NOT.

Joe, I intended to do just that, but I looked at the ballot for my district, and there isn't a single Libertarian on it. For the first time in 20 years since I became eligable to vote, I am considering not voting.

Very true quote, and I agree completely with Mike from Norwalk. E Archer, do you think GWB has done more damage than Clinton? Don't you remember Ruby Ridge, Waco, Elian Gonzales, FBI investigations of political opponents, back door deals with China ... and the list goes on. I totally disagree with most of the Democrat's party platform, but I can see PLENTY of dirty laundry in the Republican party. Until we get past our partisan politics and start looking at these as govermental problems which go far beyond the two controlling parties, we will lose this contest for our liberty. These Republican-controlled terms have made it crystal clear to me that the Big Two may talk a good talk about their differences, but practically, there is very little difference. They are both big-government, power hungry, elitists. We can argue all day about solving the health care problems in America or who should control our social security dollars, but the simple fact is that, Constitutionally, these are not functions of the Federal government. Probably 90% of what the federal government does is outside the bounds of the Constitution. The problem is how do we get our lawmakers to OBEY THE LAW.

Reston, if you think George Bush is the root of all our problems, you're not paying attention, and you need to go to the back of the class. The government we have now is the result of a long chain of Constitutional abuses with it's root in the mid 1800's with the radical Republican party of Lincoln's day.

We get the government that we want. We like flash and dazzle, so we elect the most dynamic, best looking and best talkers. If we had the most honest and most intelligent person in the world on the ballot, but he looked like a goober, there's no way he would get elected. We choose form over substance every day.

Here's a real and concrete solution ... instead of making airline passengers sheep who are at the mercy of anyone smart enough to figure out a way to smuggle a weapon on board a plane, allow passengers to go armed. It amazes me that we are willing to put so much faith in police officers and soldiers to be armed anywhere, but the thought of an "ordinary" citizen being armed scares people to death. Like Joe, I train with firearms more often than most law enforcement officers and soldiers, but I can't be trusted to carry a gun where they can. They are just people too. What makes them so trustworthy ... a uniform? Read this:
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?id=2475 also read
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=2480 and here is a good proposal
http://www.keepandbeararms.com/information/XcIBViewItem.asp?ID=2465