Statement of Principles
The Glorious Revival
By Steve Beckow
The first step, it seems to me, in building Nova Earth is defining our values.
Duncan from Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada, has sent me a statement of principles from a Canadian group, Civis4reform, who have recently launched a 10-year event known as the Glorious Revival Vision 2034. He says it’s:
“… a National, non-monetized group I am involved with called www.civis4reform.org (alternate website is gloriousrevival org).
“Within either of those websites is access to a document this group has put together known as The Rights of All Persons & The Duties of Government. It is a non-partisan set of guidelines for all, once the nastiness out there has been dealt with.”
I welcome explorations of political values, religious values, social values – anything of general importance and significance – as contributions to building Nova Earth.
Statement of Principles
Every person* has the right to their life and liberty and to the property that they justly acquire.
As members of a country of free persons, we have entrusted governments with the duty of protecting those rights for every person in an accountable and transparent manner.
The sanctity of the rights and freedoms of every person must rise above all other laws, acts of government or decisions in our courts of law. No person, institution, group, company or government may arbitrarily suspend or circumvent them under any circumstances.
Should any person violate those rights they must be held to account. Should any agent of government fail to honour and defend those rights, they are in breach of their duty and any harm caused by such a failure must be remedied immediately.
The constitution upon which Canada was established is founded upon principles that ensure that the rights and freedoms of every person are protected.
With that in mind, we re-assert those principles.
PRINCIPLES
Rights of Persons
- Every person has a body, mind and will of their own. This guarantees them:
- the right to live free from intimidation, coercion, threat or attack from any person regardless of their position;
- the right to hold their own personal beliefs and to express them in ways that do not harm the rights of others;
- the freedom to choose and to pursue their own goals, while respecting their duty not to violate the rights of any other person;
- the right to join with others to pursue their goals and to provide for themselves and their family;
- the right to the property that they justly create, build or acquire and to what they earn while producing goods or services for others;
- the right to defend themselves, their family and their property;
- the right to equal treatment as separate persons under laws that protect the rights of all persons equally.
- Every person has the right to be protected from attacks on their person or their property by any person, institution, group, company or government:
- by threat, intimidation, exploitation, coercion, theft or any other means, or
- by virtue of laws, regulations, policies or practices that violate the rights of any person.
- The family is a core institution that provides for the needs of persons and that protects and educates children in all thriving societies. It must be protected against unwarranted intrusions, including by government.
Duties of Government and Public Officials
- Governments must protect and serve, not impose. They have been established to protect the rights of every person in a transparent and accountable manner. As a result, governments:
- must protect every person from direct and indirect harms, aggressions or threats against their rights by any other person, group, institution, company or cause, by any foreign power or actor, by any agent of government or by the courts;
- must maintain and manage public property and common assets in a way that respects and protects every citizen’s rights in those assets;
- must create, maintain or support essential infrastructure and services that serve the needs of all citizens and that can not be adequately provided without government involvement or funding;
- must assist with the essential needs of those who can not help themselves, with the aim of encouraging self-reliance;
- must ensure that:
- no statute, regulation, policy, program or action of government harms the rights and freedoms or the property of any citizen;
- no citizen is deprived of their right to provide for themselves and their family through just means;
- no privileges are granted to any person, group, corporation or institution;
- no domestic or foreign organization, company, group or government undermines the rights of any citizen or lays claim to our personal or common lands or resources.
- must hold open and vigorous debates that inform the public of the motivation and risks associated with policies that will have a significant impact on the future of our economy, our national sovereignty and security or the rights or freedoms of any citizen of the country;
- must ensure that citizens have an effective means:
- of preventing the abuse of government powers;
- of holding those in government and private offices to account for actions that undermine these principles and for damage done to the rights of persons as a result of their actions or omissions while they held those offices.
- As representatives and agents of the people, those who hold public offices:
- must place their duty to protect the rights of members of the public ahead of their own interests and the interests of any person, partisan, corporation, institution, group or cause.
Responsibilities of Citizens and Their Right to Act to Uphold These Principles
- Citizens, as members of a society of free persons with natural rights:
- must recognize and respect the rights of all other persons;
- must be aware of the need to exercise constant vigilance over the actions of those who hold public offices so as to ensure that the powers that are assigned to public offices are not used in a way that harms the rights, freedoms and just interests of any citizen; and
- may act alone or in association with others to identify and bring an end to any misuse or abuse of those immense powers by those who wish to use them for their own purposes or to pursue goals which are incompatible with these principles.
RESTORING THESE PRINCIPLES
If our society is to continue as a society of free persons of real and equal value, the principles listed above must be understood and defended.
Honourable, virtuous and ethical behavior is characterized by an unwavering determination to act according to those principles.
All members of our society must accept and act upon these principles so as to ensure that the rights of every person are upheld.
Those who hold public office must place the duty of upholding those principles ahead of the wishes, plans or actions of any person, institution, group, company or party, whether public or private.
A constant threat is posed to these essential underpinnings of all sound and enduring societies by the temptation to put one’s personal interests ahead of the rights of others and by the great temptation among those who hold public offices to use the powers of those offices to impose an agenda that violates those principles.
To protect against that threat, all members of our society must understand, assert and defend these principles. It is only by doing so that we can retain the promise of living in a country that is peaceful, prosperous, culturally-rich, morally-sound and free.
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* The word “person” is used to mean an individual human being.
