On The Front Lines
In Recognition of Bill of Rights Day, Rutherford Institute Warns Americans to Be Vigilant in Safeguarding Their Rights
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. —In keeping with the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the Bill of Rights, John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute, is calling upon all Americans to remind themselves of their constitutional rights and their responsibility to safeguard those rights. As Whitehead points out in a commentary on the topic, “Bill of Rights Day: Are Our Freedoms in Jeopardy?” since the passage of the Patriot Act in 2001, the rights of American citizens have been subject to an increasingly brutal attack by government agents and lawmakers.
“Bill of Rights Day: Are Our Freedoms in Jeopardy?” is available here.
“Those responsible for the demise of the Bill of Rights are none other than the schools, the courts, the politicians, and ‘we the people,’” stated Whitehead. “Unless we act now to secure our constitutional rights, America will continue down the path toward tyranny.”
The passage of the Patriot Act in 2001 ushered in an era in American history in which basic rights that guided political leaders since the founding of the nation have become second place to concerns over security. As recent protests around the nation have shown, basic rights such as freedom of speech are increasingly subject to violent reprisal by government agents. The increased use of SWAT team raids throughout the country have called into question whether Americans still have a right to be protected from unreasonable searches and seizures as is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. The latest National Defense Authorization Act for 2012 will bring the practice of indefinite detention which has long been employed overseas in the so-called “war on terror” to American soil, eviscerating the protections provided by the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. American lawmakers proclaimed America to be part of a “battlefield,” calling into question the notion of civilian law in the United States.
As Whitehead points out, if Americans don’t soon confront this stark reality about the state of their constitutional rights, they will soon find themselves in an entirely different America. “How many Americans during the course of a day—even when they see fellow citizens under attack—ever think about their rights?” said Whitehead. “If they did, surely there would be more resistance.”
