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“By What Power And Whose Authority Do You Do These Things?”

Senator Dan Sullivan discusses his recent op-ed on personal freedom and responsibility

BY WHAT POWER AND WHOSE AUTHORITY DO YOU DO THESE THINGS?
By: Senator Dan Sullivan

From the days of the Romans to the American Revolution to today, “government” and individual rights have clashed as the question is asked, “By what power and whose authority do you do these things?”

People are endowed with inalienable rights from God. It is the job of the government to protect those rights. But, as we look around at the sweeping changes in our Republic, it seems that many of us have forgotten this foundational principle.

Who gives the government this power and authority? Our Founding Fathers recognized that rights are inherently ours, they are not derived from government. We the people consent to authority to secure our rights. However, if at any time our government overreaches or becomes destructive, “it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it.”

By what authority do public libraries introduce sexually explicit material to the children’s section and promote an ideology without the parent’s consent?

By what authority do public schools usurp parental rights, become activist institutions, impose new curriculums and force our kids into divisive identity groups based on race, ethnicity, religion, and gender?

By what authority do governors shut down small businesses and commerce, enacting one-sided tiered re-openings favoring big business with no set-criteria and data to support the edict? By what authority does a governor continue to re-establish his emergency powers that were once described by the Arkansas Department of Health attorney as  “unbounded?”

By what authority do companies mandate a vaccine, threatening people’s employment with failure to comply?

Many citizens were satisfied to self-limit for months, sacrificing family gatherings, holiday celebrations, and school and church activities. But no more. History and today’s times teach that an overreaching government can be as perilous as any virus we battle.

How do we balance an overreaching government with our God-given rights? Perhaps we look at the greatest counsel for guidance. Love God and love one another.

Loving our neighbors does not look like lockdowns, mandates, and authoritarian rule. Loving your neighbor as yourself acknowledges the balance of personal freedom of choice with responsibility. This is done willingly, not by mandates.

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