aggiepilot87 said:
I see no conflict between what I said and citizenship in these United States. I did not advocate for others our system of government, the adoption of our Constitution nor citizenship in our country. What I did say was that the rights of mankind outlined in our Consitution's Bill of Rights and our D of I apply to all men everywhere. That other men have rights, equal to our own, cannot in any way infringe the soverignty of our nation.
If indeed we do "hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." it is not possible to presume that they apply only to Americans or that citizenship in this or any other country is their source. As stated in the text they are endowed by the Creator and apply to all men, who are created equal.
That concept, that philosophy, that belief is the foundation of this Republic. We may not preach it, apply it only to ourselves, ignore other men, and deny their right to the core of our being. Their nationality does not change because of this, nor does ours.
"Whenever any form of government (anywhere) becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it ..." The right of the people, not the right of the United States.
Again, what applies to other people is not our Constitution specifically nor our Declaration of Independence, but the principles embodied therein.
We ourselves are bound by these principles. If in dealing with other peoples and other nations we choose to violate our own beliefs and principles and accept that such is permissable because they do not happen to be citizens of the USA, then we are but hypocrites.
I cannot even imagine how you could construe that others having the same rights that we do, would in any way requre us or them to open our respective borders to each other. You're missing the point completely. A citizen of another country can exercise his rights within that country. If we choose to admit him to our country he may exercise those rights here. We are not obliged in any way to tear down our national borders or admit so much as one foreigner because of this and neither is he. What we may not do is violate his borders without his consent nor he ours.
Your rights as an individual do not remove my rights. My rights do not remove yours. I may live in my house and prevent you from entering it. You may do the same. If everyone in the world does not have the same basic rights, then just who has more rights and where did they come from? Who took away the rights of someone that has no rights?
The rights of which I speak are not given by men, they come from the Creator. Men often try to remove them in fact more so than not. Does that mean that Americans should be among those who remove the rights of others against their will? I would certainly hope not.
When we are attacked from within, we can deal with the attacker within our own borders. If attacked from outside our borders, we may justifiably defend ourselves by such method as may be necessary, including the invasion of the attacker's territory.
However, when we are not attacked, but we ourselves become the attacker, then we have violated the very things that we say we believe in. That causes me to wonder in what do we truly believe. Surely you can see that. As an Amercan, which I assume you to be, I can't imagine how you could do or think otherwise.
Now, see there, Surplus. You didn't use the "N" word once in your reply to me. Is't this more fun that way!!
That is because you did not, in your last post, espouse the views that you did previously. If you return to preaching the same thing that you did before, I would indeed use the same analogy.
Finally, the ideals expressed in our charter documents are beliefs that I would risk my life to defend. I will not risk or give my life voluntarily to take from or control another man in his own country. I don't care if his name is Sadaam Hussein or John Doe. I certainly am not willing to die or have my grandsons die for another man's oil wells. I'll buy the oil or find another source, but I will not go there to take it. It is also not mine to defend. Our oil wells are in Texas, Alaska, Louisiana and Pennsylvania (principally), not in Iraq.
I don't want to become an Imperialist. That is why for instance I am quite happy that the sun now sets on the British Empire. Those folks have made more trouble meddling in the Middle East than can be imagined. I have no desire to repeat what they did.
