No, I believe in the constitutional rights of Americans-for Americans...but not that we have the obligation or the right to forcefully interfere in the affairs of another nation to facilitate our view of how their people should live. And, even if we tried, I don't think it would work.
But aren't those rights embodied in the stated belief that they are inalienable, possessed by virtue of being an individual human being, not just an American?
If you don't believe they are inalienable, then you've just nullified the very premise that underpins your personal rights. Because if they aren't inalienable, then they are granted (and taken away) by some other power.
It further undermines our belief in self-government, because it would suggest that self-government is not morally superior than authoritarianism or totalitarianism.
Thus, in your view, democratic government is not morally superior, nor even worth defending when it displays itself to be so weak in the face of totalitarian threats.
Because face it.. Whether it be Vietnam, or possibly Iraq, you're saying the democracies lack the will or moral authority to defend themselves against their totalitarian aggressors which, being answerable to no one but themselves, have a far greater capacity to coerce and dominate.
What you've done is just shred the moral authority of our internal society. Because now you're telling me that if I want to beat women, it's alright. If I want to kill someone because they don't practice the same religion that I do, it's alright. That if I want to terrorize and dominate my neighbors, it's alright.
If I want to kill someone because they aren't the same color, or cultural origin as myself, then it's alright.. You don't have a right to stop it.
Because you have no right, internationally, or domestically, to tell me how I should live, or how I should treat other people.
And you wouldn't lift a finger to stop me from stealing from your neighbors or fellow canyon dwellers, because it's not your right to tell me how I should live my life (even if I may be a brutal murderer, thief, or rapist.)
You're telling me that I can do anything I want to against my fellow man because you don't have the moral authority to justify stopping me.
Because if you can make this argument internationally, I can just as readily make the same argument for those diverse and disparate cultures within our society.
Have I got your position clear?
Hawk |
