– Principle #1 – Our Rights Come from God
– Principle #2 – The Proper Role of Government is To Secure Our Rights
– Principle #3 – All Political Power is Inherent in the People
– Principle #4 – Liberty is Freedom + Responsibility
– Principle #5 – We are Not a Democracy
– Principle #6 – It’s Individual Rights, Not Collective Rights
– Principle #7 – We are Not an Oligarchy
– Principle #8 – We are a Constitutional Republic
– Principle #9 – We Don’t Have Constitutional Rights
– Principle #10 – The Constitution is Not For Us, It’s For Them
– Principle #11 – The Bill of Rights Does Not List Our Rights
– Principle #12 – It’s Freedom of Speech, Not Freedom From Being Offended
– Principle #13 – It’s Freedom of Religion, Not Freedom From Religion
– Principle #14 – Shall Not Be Infringed Means Shall Not Be Infringed
– Principle #15 – Taking Property Without Due Process is Theft
– Principle #16 – The Government Should Not Play Favorites
– Principle #17 – We Should Have a Free Market, Not A Government-Run Economy
– Principle #18 – The Government Can Only Give What it has Taken from Someone Else
– Principle #19 – Taxes Should Be Flat, Fair, and Uniform For All
– Principle #20 – The Constitution is the Government’s Supreme Law of the Land
– Principle #21 – No One is Above the Law but Justice Through Due Process and Our Consent Must Prevail
– Principle #22 – The Federal Government’s Powers are Few and Defined
– Principle #23 – If it’s Not in the Constitution, It’s Up to the States or the People
– Principle #24 – We Created the States and They Created the Federal Government
– Principle #25 – They are Not Our Leaders
– Principle #26 – Know Your Place in the Hierarchy
– Principle #27 – Equal Opportunity, Not Equal Outcome
– Principle #28 – We the People are the Final Arbiters of What is or is not Constitutional
– Principle #29 – Collective Punishment for the Crimes of a Few is Wrong
– Principle #30 – The Constitution is Made for a Moral and Religious People

The purpose of this section is to provide a tool for analyzing legislation proposed by local, state, or federal representatives. I believe it’s important to apply a consistent methodology when determining if something is a good idea. Instead of simply regurgitating the latest talking points we hear on the news or from our favorite talking heads, it’s important to think through these questions and apply them with discipline and diligence. The ebb and flow of political winds and stream of lobbying dollars will be no match against these questions when applied with consistency.

I’m fascinated by the idea of an awakening and this section of the book covers a few thoughts and considerations for how to spark an awakening in your family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. I could easily write an entire book on this subject and I plan to do so in the near future. In the meantime, what follows is a brief overview to get you thinking and to reinforce the idea that we all have a role to play.
It is said that after the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, a woman ran up to Benjamin Franklin and asked, “Dr. Franklin, what have you given us?” He replied, “A republic, ma’am, if you can keep it.” The point here is that we need everyone involved and doing their part to save our country. For an awakening to sweep across our great land we certainly need all hands on deck.
An awakening occurs when …

Included in this book are five of the sixty-three original Articles of the 1215 Magna Carta with notes on their influence on the U.S. Constitution.

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary to….

We the People of the United States, in order to….

Congress shall make no law abridging…