What's a Book That's Changed Your Life?

Hi Rose,

I'm a life-long Catholic and not a young man. I've attended Mass since I was in my mother's womb. The Bible, the teachings of Christ and the Church have always been a part of my life. I can still remember when Mass was in Latin. Unlike Protestants, I didn't 'discover' the Bible after descending into a life of sin, latching onto it like a life ring to be 'saved' as a drowning man going down for the third time.

The 5000 Year Leap introduced me to the concept of Natural Rights and Natural Law and the philosophies of Cicero (a non-Christian Roman), Thomas Aquinas (an Italian Dominican Roman Catholic priest), John Locke, Montesquieu, Blackstone and others that influenced the Founders thinking and helped them to craft this unique government that stands alone in human history.

In a nutshell, God gave mankind freewill; would it not have been a cruel joke to give man the right of self-determination and then deny him the means to exercise it?

Your unalienable rights are established by your Creator and are not subject to be given, removed or altered by any man or government. An entitlement is granted by government and is only an entitlement as long as it is granted.

Mankind has the right to self-government, to bear arms for self defense and to own, develop and dispose of property. We have the right to make personal choices, of free conscience and to choose our profession. We have the right to choose a mate and beget our own kind.

We have the right to assemble, to petition and of free speech. We have the right to, but not always the benefit of, a free press.

We have the right to enjoy the fruits of our labor, to explore and develop the natural resources of the earth, to improve our position through barter and sale, the right to contrive and invent.

We have the right to privacy, to personal security and to provide nature's necessities - air, water, food, clothing and shelter. We have the right to contract, to free association, and to a fair trial.

Along with these rights come some public and private duties to maintain those same rights. Forgetting these is where it all began to go horribly wrong.

First, we have the duty to honor the supremacy of the Creator and his laws. The duty not to take the life of another except in self-defense, to not steal or destroy the property of another and to be honest in all transactions with others.

Children have the duty to honor and obey their parents and elders while parents have the duty to protect, teach, feed, clothe and provide shelter for children.

We have the duty to support law and order and to keep the peace, not to contrive through a covetous heart to despoil another, to honorably perform contracts and covenants both with God and man and to not trespass on the property or privacy of another.

We have the duty to provide, to the best of our ability, for the needs of the helpless - the sick, the crippled, the injured, the poverty-stricken. The duty to become economically self-sufficient.

We have the duty to maintain the integrity of the family structure, to perpetuate the human race, to be temperate and to not promote or participate in the vices that destroy personal and community life.

We have the duty to support personal and public standards of common decency, to follow the rules of moral rectitude and to not aid or abet those involved in criminal or anti-social activities.

And we have the duty to perform our civic responsibilities - VOTE, assist public officials, serve in official capacities when called upon, stay informed on public issues, volunteer where needed.