March 15, 2013 by david j. shestokas
filed under: constitution and its people, constitution educational series, guest commentary & reflections, uncategorized tagged with: aquinas, bill of rights, constitution, declaration of independence, founding fathers, john locke, natural law, obama, supreme court, thomas jefferson
Government needs a basis to exercise authority over people. Citizens must accept government authority. A government lacking acceptance of the people over whom it exercises authority will not endure. Such acceptance comes from fear, tradition or philosophy.
Dictators obtain authority by instilling fear of disobedience in the populace. A theocracy ordained by God arises from religious traditions. A monarchy combines religious traditions[1] and fear of the monarch’s absolute authority. Communists have gained power with a philosophy based upon the “dictatorship of the proletariat”.[2] The United States was founded upon a philosophy of Natural Law as the source of legitimate legal authority for government.
Government by Philosophy: Understanding, Acceptance & Consistent Conduct
For a government founded on philosophy to maintain its authority, three things are needed:
- An understanding by the people of the philosophy
- An acceptance by the people of the philosophy
- Conduct by the government consistent with the philosophy
Declaration of Independence Established Natural Law the Organizing Principle of the United States
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