From Larry Miller at politicalchristian.org
…While many expressed reservations about the Patriot Act that began the decline in our personal freedoms, it seemed necessary as we learned more about the intelligence failures that led to the September 11 attacks. We learned about how different branches of the law enforcement and intelligence apparatus knew parts of the story, but were unable to piece together a coherent picture of what was to come. We knew something had to change in the way they worked together.
There is no need to rehearse the step by step diminishing of our forefathers sought to install as the basis of our new nation:
We 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. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it…
The point is that governments – legitimate governments – exist to protect the rights that come from our Creator, not restrict them. Governments can only recognize rights… never grant them. Governments can only grant privileges to those in their favor.
However, there are times when leaders become more concerned with their own welfare and rights than those of their citizens. We can see this no more clearly than when we are told that limiting access to firearms promotes public safety. The reality is that honest armed citizens pose no threat to their friends and neighbors. They do, on the other hand, represent a hindrance to imposition of illegitimate intrusion into the lives of the good people by those who would control them.
