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A Political Platform Based Upon Natural Law

“No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated. Neither may a government determine the aesthetic values of artistic creations, nor limit the forms of literary or artistic expression. Nor should it pronounce on the validity of economic, historic, religious or philosophical doctrines. Instead it has a duty to its citizens to maintain their freedom, to let those citizens contribute to the further adventure and the development of the human race.”
                                                              Richard P. Feynman, Nobel Prize winning physicist

Introduction

The purpose of this document is to present a political platform that is consistent with what is called Natural Law, sometimes called Universal or Divine Law. Natural Law is here defined as those laws determined by our Creator, that when followed in universally consistent ways, facilitate the spiritual and moral evolution of mankind.

In order to justify the policies advocated here, I start by briefly stating my core beliefs, followed by an equally brief statement of my political philosophy, which I believe to be consistent with these core beliefs. This is followed by the main part of this document, which is the political platform itself. My intention is to present a political platform that, if adopted, will lead to peace and prosperity for all people of good will as well as to provide an environment conducive to spiritual growth, for those who so desire.

Statement of Core Philosophical Beliefs

1) Every person is a child of God, and each person is here on Earth to grow toward God.

2) Love God and love others.

3) Treat others as we would like to be treated.

4) Each of us is to use our talents to help make the world a better place.

5) Cause and effect operates in the realm of human interactions as well as in the realm of physical laws. Hence, the consequence of each person’s thoughts, words, or deeds will return to that person in kind. For example, loving thoughts or actions that benefit someone’s life will return in kind. Similarly, negative actions will result in a negative repercussion. To summarize, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

6) Adults are personally responsible for their own lives – for each thought, word, and deed.

7) Each person has the right to life, liberty, and to be secure in their own property. Thus, each person has the right to live life in the manner that he or she sees fit, as long as this does not interfere with the right of others to do the same. (I use the term ‘property’ to refer to anything tangible or intangible that can belong to a person or group of persons. A car, an engagement ring, money, a legal contract, and a patent are examples of property that a person may own. This is to be distinguished from the term ‘natural resources’ in that the natural resources are tangible or intangible entities that are a product of nature. Thus the air, trees, oil, minerals, water, land, radio spectrum, etc. are natural resources).

8) No one, nor the government should force their beliefs on another, nor is it the role of government to legislate as to how individuals should lead their lives, as long as they do so peacefully. Rather, the main role of government is to protect our right to have whatever beliefs we wish, and to protect our right to live as we see fit, as long as this is done in peace.

9) Children are our greatest resource and families with well-raised children are the bedrock of a true civilization. Parents are responsible for the upbringing of their children, and each child has the right to love, food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and education. It is the responsibility of the child’s parents to provide these. (However, it may be currently necessary or expedient for the government to assist parents in these responsibilities with subsidies. In such cases, the parents should be given as much freedom as possible to fulfill their responsibilities to their children). The ideal situation is that children are raised by their married biological parents in a loving environment.

10) Since the Earth’s natural resources were not created by individuals, they do not a priory belong to any one individual or group of individuals; therefore, they should be considered the property of the people as a whole. Hence, they ought to be under the control of the government, which may then sell, lease, or rent such resources to individuals, groups of individuals, or corporations who may then use or develop these resources so that they can be of value to themselves and others.

Political Philosophy

A political philosophy concerns the role of government in the affairs of its citizens. What political philosophy is consistent with the statement of my core philosophical beliefs given above? Because freedom and peace are so important to our material, physical and spiritual growth, the core tenant of my political philosophy is that the main purpose of government is to help to protect each individual’s right to live and grow in peace.

Because the political philosophy presented here contends that the main purpose of government is to keep the peace, many atheists and agnostics will find that they substantially agree with this political platform, even though they might disagree with some of my core philosophical beliefs.

In a country such as the United States, which properly operates by the rule of law, the manner in which government protects our rights is through our laws. Hence, our laws should be centered upon the protection of the people’s right to live life as they see fit, as long as this is done in peace.

Thus a good law is one which says that if a person is convicted of violating the life, liberty, or property of another, then a penalty may be imposed, which penalty itself will remove either the life, liberty or property of the violator.

The most common such laws prohibit murder, theft, rape, assault, fraud, and coercion. In addition, since pollution can have a detrimental effect on a person’s life or property, laws that regulate harmful pollution in a rational way are also good laws.

Conversely, bad laws are those that prohibit a belief, or that prohibit any action or behavior that does not interfere with the right of others to their life, liberty or property. For example, the world’s great religions and great civilizations all have prohibitions against such acts as adultery, homosexual sex, greed, and even gluttony. However, legislation making these illegal would be inappropriate, because these acts do not interfere with the rights of others.

Another way to look at this is to realize that if a person is convicted of violating a law, the penalty always entails that loss of life, liberty and/or property. Hence, the only good laws are those penalize only those who violate the life, liberty and/or property of another.

Christ said that the greatest commandments are to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. If each of us did this, the world would be immediately transformed. Yet, it is not the place of government to require us to obey these commandments - the government ought not legislate morality.

This political platform therefore contains only legislation that I believe is in alignment with these criteria; it is not a list of all good things that we should do, nor is it list of prohibitions of all the bad things we ought not do. Rather, it only deals with proper legislation – legislation that prohibits a person or group of persons from causing harm to another.

Additionally, because the natural resources belong to the people as a whole, legislation with respect to our natural resources is also a responsibility of government.

Jefferson said, “The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.” Therefore, I believe it important to limit the role of government so as to protect our liberties. In this vein, the US Constitution specifically enumerates what may be legislated by Congress (called the ‘enumerated powers’). Furthermore, the 10th Amendment stipulates that the powers not delegated to the Federal Government by the Constitution be reserved to the States or to the people. Accordingly, another criterion for being a good federal law is that the law can be justified under one of the enumerated powers. Furthermore, any current federal laws or programs or expenditures that cannot be justified under one of the enumerated powers should be phased out. Alternatively, the Constitution could be amended to add such a program to one of its enumerated powers.
The intention therefore, is to provide a political platform that protects each person’s right to live in peace, as well as to prevent the encroachment of government on those rights. To say this in a different way, we believe that government serves us best when it protects all free markets – meaning those interactions that are voluntary and informed - free markets to trade goods and services; free markets of ideas, science, art, and music; free markets of religion, education, association, and friendship. Good government ought to protect all of these freedoms, and more.

Source:
 http://www.veracity.org/

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