I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.
Interpretation
Trial by jury is essential for maintaining constitutional integrity in government.
Thomas Jefferson's quote emphasizes the importance of a jury trial as a fundamental mechanism to hold the government accountable to its constitutional principles. He argues that this system serves as an 'anchor,' grounding the actions of the government in the foundational laws that protect citizens' rights and ensure justice.
In practice
During a legal seminar discussing the importance of civil liberties.
The firmness with which the (American) people have withstood the... abuses of the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything true and false and to form a correct judgment between them.
I, place economy among the first & most important republican virtues, & public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared
βWe must make our choice between economy and liberty or confusion and servitude...If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and comforts, in our labor and in our amusements...if we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.
Very many and very meritorious were the worthy patriots who assisted in bringing back our government to its republican tack. To preserve it in that, will require unremitting vigilance.
A nation, as a society, forms a moral person, and every member of it is personally responsible for his society.
Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.
Tell me, he said, "What is this thing about time? Why is it better to be late than early? People are always saying, we must wait, we must wait. what are they waiting for?" "Well [β¦] I guess people wait in order to make sure of what they feel." "And when you have waitedβ-has it made you sure?
That was what gospel was meant to do - make you hate and love yourself at the same time, make you ashamed and glorified.
Religion teaches us that our lives here on earth are to be used for transformation.
For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground. I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda.
To be sure, those who are actually engaged in combat - those who actually see the maimed bodies and mourning mothers - struggle more than the rest of us to make sense of the reality of war.
Did you ever notice how difficult it is to argue with someone who is not obsessed with being right?
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