June 20, 2004

Letter to the Editor, Knoxville News Sentinel:

I was interested in responding to the letter “Christians not entitled to extra U.S. rights” that was printed on June 5.

The problem isn’t that many or that even most Christians believe they are entitled to more rights than anyone else.

The problem is that, when any group, regardless of label, obtains the powers of government, persecution is always the result. This has been true since time immemorial.

It has been suggested by some that the solution to the problem is to vote people in and out of office and to enact legislation. This is precisely part of the problem. Seeking political means to obtain apolitical results is not rational.

Also, the letter implies that our rights come from a country or a piece of paper. Natural rights are just that, natural.

Governments can’t give what didn’t belong to them in the first place.

The Constitutution may have been corrupted. Or was it just corrupt? Patrick Henry refused to support the Constitution calling it “the most fatal plan that could be possibly conceived to enslave a free people”.

Chris Fortner
Knoxville