Henry Jane

On the 40th Anniversary of the greatest war crime committed by this country I would like to express my interpretation of the first three Rights granted to us by our nation's Constitution:  Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

Life:  Well, you're reading this so I assume you are alive.  The Constitution portrays Life as the first Right and, as such, is the most important right to all of the people of the world.  This includes all of those that may be counted at "enemies" of the United States or it's people.  If we, as a people, are able to deny the right to life then we have corrupted the foundation of our country.

Liberty:  There are many definitions of Liberty
Basic Liberty:  The control over ones own action.  This is laid out by Jesus Christ in Luke 6:31:  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Negative Liberty:  Freedom from others.  Just as you have the freedom to not oppress others, so do you have the freedom from oppression from others.
Libertarian Liberty:  People should, must, and ought to behave according to their own free will and take responsibility for their own actions.  This seems to be the most reasonable form of Liberty in the eyes of people, to take responsibility for your own actions.  Should you choose to murder someone then you should pay the consequences of your actions.  In reference to the first Right, Jesus Christ said to turn the other cheek and to let those who are innocent cast the first stone.  My interpretation of these scriptures is that even those guilty of the most heinous crimes deserve to live; though they may live in a prison for the rest of their lives we may not know what God has planned for their lives.
Positive Liberty:  Where emphasis is placed upon social structure directed at maintaining a class based system whereas the duties of each class benefit the whole.  This is the basis of Socialism:  The good of the many outweigh the good of the few.  Sadly the outcome of this system is a very few elite end up having complete control over the many.

The Pursuit of Happiness:  This Right is solely based on the two that precede it.  Happiness is based purely on an individual basis.  Provided your happiness does not violate the first two Rights there is no reason why anyone should infringe upon your happiness.

Although there are many definitions of Liberty, there is only one product of it and that is Freedom.  Freedom is the reason why this country was founded in the first place, to deny Life is to deny Liberty and to deny Liberty is to deny Freedom, which makes the entire concept of America an exercise in futility.