ACH Study Groups
Ben & Fran Gilmore – Cofounders
7659 Gingerblossom Drive
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
916-722-2501 histbuff@garlic.com
www.ACHStudyGroups.com
April 30, 2015
This is a letter to our friends –
Moral Suasion vs. Property
Let’s begin with basics:
· God gives life to man.
· Man must have liberty to sustain his life.
· To sustain life requires private property.
John Locke’s writing had a great influence upon America’s founding pastors. His reasoning was consistent with the Bible. The pastors passed that on to their flocks in sermons.
Locke points out, that what we need is given to man in common. He asks, “Must we first, get permission from everyone else, before eating an apple for nourishment?” We would all starve, waiting for permission!
When does the apple become our property? It becomes ours, when we remove it from the state nature left it in. Locke wrote, “Every man has a Property in his own Person.” No one has a right to my body, my labor, the work of my hands, but myself.
The water in the stream is free to everyone. Suppose you take a bucket of stream water for your kitchen counter. Anyone drinking from that bucket without your permission is taking your property! You have mixed your labor with what was available to everyone.
The “civil-rights movement” was a good thing. The right to assemble for redress of grievances comes with God-given Liberty, and is protected by our Constitution. When civil-government discriminates between citizens, it violates, “all men are created equal.”
“Moral Suasion”. Dr. King lead peaceful marches and rallies. He brought attention to unjust civil-laws of discrimination. Human nature is such that, a little authority wants more. A line was crossed when his followers used that political power to pass laws regarding private property. They passed laws that private businesses could not discriminate.
Like the bucket of stream water, if I make a cake, it contains my labor. No one has a right to my cake without my consent. Were that not so, my God-given liberty is lost, and I become a slave. Persuade me as best you can, but do not attempt to force my free choice. If I choose not to serve you, it is my choice. I may be wrong. If you can force me to serve you, we both lose and socialism grows another step.
It was largely that, that many good people in the south were opposing. It takes time to change the mind of a free society. Persuading good people not to choose to buy from stores with bad policies, is a peaceful way to bring change while respecting private property.
Without respect for Private Property, Liberty is lost to everyone. Tyranny will grow.
