Citizenship

I was watching some videos and came across one by Manly P. Hall. Mr. Hall was a very famous Masonic writer and Mason. Mr. Hall believed in one world government and that citizenship should be earned. What is interesting to me is that this is the same doctrine being promoted by Obama and Clinton (Republicans believe it also).

Manly P. Hall on citizenship

Lieberman - Citizenship a privilege not a right

Rahm Emanuel - Citizenship a privilege and it's requirements for universal service

Clinton - Citizenship is a privilege

My question is rather simple. If I am born in a country and am not a citizen, what am I? In Rome, you had citizens, slaves and aliens. What is a non-alien resident of a country? I guess they are slaves. At a minimum they are less of a person under the law. We did not treat blacks as citizens in the 1700s and 1800s, I thought we got past that.

If we follow the teaching of Bill Clinton, we are world citizens of the world. Apparently that designation gives us certain basic rights, any additional ones must be earned in the country you live in. This pressures one to accept the laws of some country. When that happens we cease having any rights as citizens. Coercion is not acceptance, it is slavery.

Should I be required to accept rules in order to obtain the basic rights that all people should have? The great political philosophers that founded this nation and the beliefs that it is under said that we all had a right to basic rights. The right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the right to believe in whatever God we chose, the right to express our beliefs, the right to associate with each other, the right to be treated fairly. These rights exist beyond citizenship.

People are outraged over "illegal immigrants', throw them out; but, as long as they are here treat them with the basic dignity we all deserve. Will we say that only citizens have a right to happiness, life, freedom of expression? Will we deny such rights to legal visitors? If we are citizens of the world, how can we deny these rights to anyone?

It is almost comical to hear Clinton, Emanuel and Lieberman argue for different rights for different people. This is not what they said in regards to South Africa. Many, if not most, of the blacks, Indians and other poor in South Africa were foreign workers, they were not treated as citizens, they were denied the right to vote and treated as foreign workers.

One of the most famous South African foreign workers was a young lawyer named Gandhi. You may have heard of him. The three miscreants calling for citizenship to be a privilege felt differently about it when they were talking about South Africa. Clinton and the others called for South Africa to extend citizenship to all living in the country, including the right to vote.

I am not calling for giving illegal aliens the right to vote or sit on juries. I am saying that the right to live and be treated fairly exists from God and is not a privilege. Fair treatment for an "illegal alien" or a "terrorist" is to be given a fair trial and, if guilty, to be removed from the country or incarcerated. The right to a trial, to be heard is fundamental. The right to be presumed innocent is the most fundamental legal right, it protects all of us from unjust governments.

People over fixate on the term "illegal" when it applies to others and not enough when it applies to them. If you cheat on your taxes then you opinion on "illegal" is a lie, it is limited to what you can get away with. If I jaywalk should I be denied my citizenship? Yet, what I have done is "illegal". Do I deserve the chance to go to court?

Many years ago, a very well renowned attorney and friend of the family, took me to dinner. I was in law school at the time. I asked him how he felt about representing guilty people. He said it was not for him to determine guilt, that was for the court and the court could not do so if they did not hear both sides. That is understanding and that is correct.

In France, during the French Revolution, the mere accusation of anti-revolution sentiments could get one guillotined. It is estimated that as many as 40,000 people were murdered with no trial. Is that the type of legal system we wish to imitate?

If citizenship means that I agree with all the laws of any nation, then I am citizen of none. If I must agree with all the laws of any nation then where is the right of the people to decide, where is change, where is growth? I am not part of any organization, I still agree with Groucho Marx, "I would not join any organization that would allow someone like me to be a member".

I am a child of God, as we all are. From him all rights are given, man is merely a dictator who attempts to usurp God given rights for his own ill gain. Our rights are not given by governments, they are part of a larger social contract. If I have no choice in the agreement then there is no agreement. Still, I am entitled to live on this earth, I do not need the permission of any government. They may have the power; but, never the right.

If I were a Mexican living in the dump outside of Mexico city, I would leave and try to come to America, wouldn't you? You may say that they should apply for citizenship and remain in the dump because citizenship is only given to a few who are well educated. Should the person in the dump therefore give up and die in the dump? Would you?

I am not calling for giving everyone citizenship, I am asking how great the crime of trying to find a decent life is. Do you really wish to compare them to murderers and rapists? "Illegal Aliens" are not coming, for the most part, to steal from us, they are coming to eek out a living and are willing to do anything to get away from the oppression and hopelessness that exists in their countries. That is the truth.

If any of you are really concerned about illegal immigration, you will return to your countries. I doubt the American Indian will complain, the people that rule this country are of the same ethnic stock that stole it from the Indians or were brought here against there will by the people that stole this country.

Just in case you are African America, don't think your people were any kinder to the American Indians, look up Buffalo Soldiers. Once freed, the blacks were more than willing to take from the American Indians. Nobody is guilt free. By the way, I am pretty sure that the American Indians were not responsible for kidnapping and enslaving blacks. Yet, it was there land that was supposed to be the twenty acres and freed slaves were willing to ask for their land, no better than whites.

Let me be clear. I am Irish, I am amazed this country ever allowed my great grandparents in. One of them was in the Irish Republican Army and killed an English soldier in Ireland in order to put Ireland in the hands of the Irish. I am pretty sure he did not mention it when he arrived in this country. I very much doubt he would be allowed in today. He would be a foreign terrorist.

How we got here is not really the issue, what we do while here is. If citizenship required military service, the willingness to kill others, would you take it? I would not. While I do appreciate those who willingly go into military service (like all my family) in the belief that they are doing what is right, I cannot require it of those who believe it is evil. I support the Muslim, Mohammad Ali, in his refusal to kill others for profit.

Citizenship, its very concept, is not a privilege, it is an abomination. It is coercion, it is the idea that you have no rights if you do not agree with the government. Rights exist even when there is no government, whether or not they are followed is the question. Frequently they are not. A government that does not protect these rights is not a government, it is control by power. It is sin.