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Tenche Coxe, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Feb. 20, 1788 Roger Sherman, during House consideration of a militia bill (1790)

George Mason

By Steve Straub On April 10, 2011 · 25 Comments · In George Mason

George Mason[W]hen the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great Britain, the British Parliament was advised by an artful man, who was governor of Pennsylvania, to disarm the people; that it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them; but that they should not do it openly, but weaken them, and let them sink gradually…I ask, who are the militia? They consist of now of the whole people, except a few public officers. But I cannot say who will be the militia of the future day. If that paper on the table gets no alteration, the militia of the future day may not consist of all classes, high and low, and rich and poor.

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25 Responses to George Mason

  1. David McRight via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 11:27 am

    These guys are so absolutely smart that it boggles my mind. They could see 200 years into the future. They knew that there would be those who would gain a small amount of power and want more until they had absolute power. And we all know what Lord Acton said about that.

    Reply
  2. David McRight via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 11:29 am

    “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” – John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton

    Reply
  3. William C. Hyland via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 11:34 am

    David, they couldn’t see into the future, but they could, and did, study the past deeply and knew what had come before. They studied so well the they had developed what I call “postcognition”, where that could tell you *exactly* what had happened in the past and so guard against it in the future.

    Reply
  4. David McRight via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 11:41 am

    William, that is correct. I think you clarified my thought. They had so studied the past, and because of the nature of people, they knew what would happen in the future. Thanks.

    Reply
  5. Dale Vann via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 11:48 am

    Okay all amateur and professional psycho analyst, here is your chance. There is nothing so empowering as possessing powere that is not needed. It soes not matter if the power be mental or physical, tangible or intangible. If I am intrinsicly motivated “to be” by something I do not wish to use to further my motivation, so be it. You say that is extrensic. We can argue; however, enablement to stand for good and right and family and possessions and for God Almighty should never be discouraged or dismissed as archaic, barbaric, or illiterate or uninformed. David took on Goliath with a weapon with which he had confidence and comfort, and the sling shot helped, too!

    Reply
  6. Stephan Dejean via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 11:53 am

    Mason was spot on, and this is why our Constitution contained an amendment to not infringe upon people’s right to self defense and to bear arms. Which is why three of our first four presidents opined on the matter as follows:

    “Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples’ liberty’s teeth.” George Washington

    “No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms.” Thomas Jefferson

    “Americans have the right and advantage of being armed – unlike the citizens of other countries whose governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” James Madison

    Reply
  7. David McRight via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 11:58 am

    Dale, David took on Goliath with a weapon alright, but that weapon was the God of Heaven. That my friend, is unbeatable.

    Reply
  8. Sandi Bradley via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    William, you stole what I was going to say. The Founders were historians. There is nothing new under the sun. If you study the past, then you know what could happen in the future.

    Reply
  9. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    But ran like a little girl when Saul was chasing him………..

    Reply
  10. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    Unlike Joshua-God’s Holy warrior-When God told him to KILL every MAN,Woman,Child, in Jericho. And who briefly stood up to Archangel Micheal, before he dropped his sword and hugged the ground…..

    Reply
  11. Sandi Bradley via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 6:17 pm

    Ran like a girl? Now there is editoralizing for you. How about wisely hid when faced by a superior force.

    Reply
  12. David McRight via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 6:43 pm

    @ David Williams. I hope you were kidding when you said “ran like a girl”. If you had a small understanding of God’s order of authority, you would never have said that. David actually had more than one opportunity to kill Saul without a fight. Saul was God’s anointed, and David would have been fighting against God, not Saul. David not only proved to be a great warrior, but also a man after God’s own heart.

    Reply
  13. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    But is not Joshua God’s holy Warrior?

    Reply
  14. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 11, 2011 at 8:11 pm

    And thus he took the torch from Moses and ranwith it.

    Reply
  15. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 12, 2011 at 9:08 am

    @David, do me a favor, read the Torah? You will have a much better vision of our past.

    Reply
  16. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 12, 2011 at 9:09 am

    @Sandi- You don’t even attempt to read the Torah, let David explain it to you, after he is done.

    Reply
  17. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 12, 2011 at 9:11 am

    Did the father of the Christian, Muslim, Judaism religion pimp out his wife? I will have to give you his name, because maybe David would guess it, Abraham.

    Reply
  18. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 12, 2011 at 9:38 am

    The answere is yes.

    Reply
  19. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 12, 2011 at 9:40 am

    These things are why our Founding fathers were Deists.

    Reply
  20. David Williams via Facebook says:
    April 12, 2011 at 11:12 am

    God told Joshua to kill every man,woman,child in Jericho. What would happen today? If someone told the authorities God told him/her to kill?

    Reply
  21. Sandi Bradley via Facebook says:
    April 14, 2011 at 3:16 am

    No Dan, not a phantom. David Williams is no longer among us. And ti clarify he had made a comment about David running “like a girl” from King Saul. That is not why he is gone though. That was from another thread.

    Reply
  22. Sandi Bradley via Facebook says:
    April 14, 2011 at 2:57 pm

    I do not know about morals, but some of his posts were incoherent rants. On one thread he must have had thirty or fourty posts, one after another like a free association of thoughts.

    Reply
  23. Sandi Bradley via Facebook says:
    April 14, 2011 at 6:56 pm

    No, not this time. A personal attack, troll-like behavior, general incoherent posts.

    Reply
  24. Ben Kmack via Facebook says:
    April 15, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    Myself and the other iconoclasts of this group do not need help from irrational and inconsiderate trolls. Even as I attempt to temper my comments and questions with reason and civility, I realize that I am at odds sometimes with sentiments of group members. Thanks to TFP for recognizing the difference.

    Reply
  25. Sandi Bradley via Facebook says:
    April 15, 2011 at 4:42 pm

    Ben, Steve can tell the difference between someone with a different view point and a troll. On this page we welcome opposing views. It is rather difficult to have an intelligent discussion if everyone is just saying “ditto!” No, differing ideas are needed, but as you say they need to be tempered with reason and civility. No personal attacks and no bad language. Anyone who abides by those rules can post all they want. Of course David failed on the reason part. I think some of his posts were odd to say the least.

    Reply

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