Bill of Rights Day
Today many Americans are set to converge on Washington DC in what is being called a Code Red Rally. This rally is in protest of the health care plan. In spite of the rally in September in which approximately one million Americans marched on Washington DC, the Democratic controlled House of Representatives (who are supposed to be representing the American people) proceeded with a bill that would change health care in America for ever. The Senate rejected this bill and is in the process of working on another one that is just as unacceptable as the one passed by the House.
This legislation and climate change legislation and the recently passed bill that allows the government to take action against big companies who fail financially, are just a few examples of the way the government is infringing upon the rights of the American people tguaranteed to them in the Constitution.
The date chosen for the march is significant because it is Bill of Rights Day. The Bill of Rights is the name given to the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. According to Wikipedia, “The Bill of Rights prohibits Congress from making any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, forbids infringement of "...the right of the people to keep and bear Arms...", and prohibits the federal government from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law. In federal criminal cases, it requires indictment by grand jury for any capital or "infamous crime", guarantees a speedy public trial with an impartial jury composed of members of the state or judicial district in which the crime occurred, and prohibits double jeopardy. In addition, the Bill of Rights states that "the enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people,"[3] and reserves all powers not granted to the federal government to the citizenry or States. Most of these restrictions were later applied to the states by a series of decisions applying the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, which was ratified in 1868, after the American Civil War.”
You can follow the link below to read the text of the Bill of Rights.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Bill_of_Rights
In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 15 to be Bill of Rights Day. This was done in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the ratification of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. This Bill of Rights was important, and the American people refused to ratify the Constitution unless this Bill of Rights was added. To find out more about how a Baptist pastor was involved in the writing of the Bill of Rights, check out this link - http://www.mainstreambaptists.org/mbn/Patriots.htm . One of Leland’s main concerns was protection against a National or State church.