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By Allen Peacock, Berthoud

This Speakout has not been edited.

The story begins as a young man enters camp after days spent herding his father’s goats. One day the goats will be his, as well as the great tent in which his father lives with his several wives. One day he will be the patriarch of the tribe and own slaves and large herds, have several wives, make the laws and mete out justice to the rest of the tribe, and hold a position of respect and power. As his father’s eldest son, these are his birthright: the most precious possession a man in his culture could have.

He comes into camp tired, thirsty and ravenous, and is aware of the wonderful aroma of a bowl of stew in his younger brother’s hands. He asks for the bowl and his brother agrees to hand it over in exchange for his older brother’s birthright. The older brother agrees, and in exchange for a moment’s satisfaction, Esau gives his birthright to Jacob, who becomes the patriarch honored by both Jews and Christians as one of the fathers of God’s Chosen People. Regardless of your opinion of the historicity of this story – fact, fiction, a little of both – it contains a powerful message about values.

The founders of our country gave us a magnificent birthright in the form of the first ten amendments to the Constitution: the Bill of Rights. No other country – not even England, which produced Magna Carta and Parliament — had such freedom at that time. Our political forefathers warned us to value this gift above all else and protect it, because it is our birthright.

In the last several years The President and Congress have traded our birthright in exchange for what they claim is security. Last week even the Democrats, who had fought to keep our freedom intact, gave in and effectively traded our most precious possession for a figurative bowl of stew: immediate, promised-but-not-certain security. The so-call Patriot Act began the process, and last week’s legislation allowing the administration to intercept citizens’ phone calls and email without judicial approval completed the trade.

I will be called a traitor for saying that freedom is more precious than security. I gladly join the ranks of such traitors as: Benjamin Franklin, who said, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety”; Abraham Lincoln, “It has long been a grave question whether any government, not too strong for the liberties of its people, can be strong enough to maintain its existence in great emergencies”; and James Madison, “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” This last statement describes perfectly what this administration is doing to us.

Because I have criticized the President’s plans, I must live with the possibility of being secretly declared an enemy combatant, facing a midnight knock on the door and removal to an undisclosed location where I can be held indefinitely, without being charged with a crime, without contact with the outside world, much less a lawyer. The possibility of Alberto Gonzales doing that to me is as improbable as a terrorist attack happening because of a missed phone call…BUT HE CAN DO THIS …to me and to YOU.

The Book of Genesis ends the tale of Jacob and Esau with the sentence, “Thus Esau showed how little he valued his birthright.” Is our most precious possession, our birthright – the Bill of Rights –not worth the discomfort of the possibility of terrorism? Once the Government takes something away, it rarely gives it back. Twenty years from now the taste of the stew – a stronger sense of security — will be forgotten, but our lost freedoms will be remembered amid wistful yearning for the days when we faced danger, but faced it as free women and men.

READER COMMENTS

The democrats protect the bill of rights???? when? How many times have they attempted to stomp on the first, second et al and you have the nerve to make them out as the saviors of the Bill of Rights? The Republicans may be doing silly things as well, but don't forget the Dems involvement in the destruction of rights.

So there was Ben Franklin, departing from the "Way Forward" machine from his trip to America in 1960 or thereabouts.

Boy he had a lot to say about universal health care and how awful it is for us. That cradle to grave nanny government scared him so badly he shook so hard he could barely light his pipe.

And then he said "In that ghastly America you can`t smoke in pubs, or court houses or hospitals, why we need to take care of this immediately".

Next time you hear that old quote about giving up a little freedom for some security you remember what he was really talking about.

I love the "pronouncements" . I assert, therefore it is so.......

I began reading this article and I was enthusiastic... my mind raced....slow encroachment on our liberties, that's the ticket.... could it be universal healthcare, could it be mandating no smoking in any restaurant, could it be an article about the crippling effects of Political Correctness, could it be mandating CO2 as a pollutant, which means we all should be taxed for simply living (human "carbon footprint")....could it be the bias in our media guaranteeing the loss of our freedom...or could it be our 2.6 million word tax code that punishes success by taxing productivity, savings and investments but noooo it wasn't. It was about throwing away freedoms through "The Patriot Act". What?

So many other ways to go, but one law during time of war and all of a sudden the brown shirts are coming at 2:00 am to arrest you... yeah and that black helicopter you see, it's after you...did they probe you when you went on the "mother ship".... right....

Benjamin Franklin was not speaking of anything close to the Patriot Act, he was speaking of universal healthcare and the feel good laws that allow government to "take care of you cradle to grave"..that's the false security he was speaking of... but that's beside the point right?

You would have a cow during World War II.. I would immagine the same screams could be heard when Lincoln declared Marshall Law.....our history has shown that during time of war, Americans have witnessed a temporary suspension of certain liberties as Roosevelt mandated during World War II. Then when the danger was gone, the liberties were re-instituted..except of course our Income Tax..but that's another story....

I love it when the ideologues get going..

You have something to assert. .therefore it is...

No thanks, I'm not buying what you're selling...

Well, Gary, the facts are that the Patriot Act is nothing more than an extension of the failed drug war. In the more than 30 years of its history there are plenty of cases where individual civil rights were trampled. Mistaken identities, wrong addresses, pop cans mistaken for guns, etc. are still happening. Now it only takes someone who disagrees with authorities to be identified as a terrorist suspect. Feel safer?

Gee, beware they are coming for you in the dark. Lost your rights....hardly. The days of Ben Franklin are not the same as today. To require a court order for phone taps and e-mails is outdated. One can aquire a new cell phone or many more e-mail addresses in minutes. How do you expect any security to exist if proper ways to monitior fast changing technology is not given to those that need it.
Go ahead, keep over re-acting and keep yelling wolf. How about some real facts to back your wild statements. But then, you do not have any to back them.

You mixed religion and politics.When people do that it makes no sense and undermines the rights of the people you so dearly cherish.

The Constitution and The Declaration of Independence are not connected to the Bible.

The Bible is a work of fiction.

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