Tyrants and Tyranny
Published by dougaudirsch on March 13, 2010 filed under Audirsch, Contributing Writers, United States, World · Comments (0)
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Tyrants are Illegitimate Rulers
The word “tyranny” comes to the English language from the Latin tyrannuswhich means “illegitimate ruler.” The definition is a person who rules over people against the best interests of the people, by force or coercion. Historically, in Greece the tyrants were influential opportunists that came to power by securing the support of segments of the population. In “The Social Contract”, Rousseau explained, “In the exact sense, a tyrant is an individual who arrogates to himself the royal authority without having a right to it. This is how the Greeks understood the word ‘tyrant’: they applied it indifferently to good and bad princes whose authority was not legitimate.” The key characteristics of a tyranny are: Opportunism, Heavyhanded rule, and Illegitimacy. Rahm Emmanuel is infamous for his brash statement, “Never let a crisis go to waste.” This is a classic tactic of a tyrant. Heavyhanded rule is when the leaders decisions are forced on the citizens. Our current healthcare debate is an example of forced legislation. This is an area that the citizens are consistently voted down and demanded that government stop attempting to take over and yet they persist in taking control. Again, this is a characteristic of a tyranny. Finally, we have the question of the illegitimate leader. Our founders would not be distracted by the fact that our government consists of elected leaders. Simply because we have the form of self-government does not mean that we have a truly representative government. With overwhelming evidence of thorough corruption throughout our entire governmental system, we can not brush off claims of tyranny because our leaders are elected. We the People are not being represented by our Imperial Congress. They have rigged the system to maintain their grasp on power and have outright manipulated the system to produce the results they desire. Our elected leaders serve the people within the limitations of the Constitution. When they go outside of these boundaries, which they frequently do, they are no longer legitimate leaders, rather they are illegitimate rulers. In sum, because our leaders have used crises to push their agendas, have forced laws and regulations on the citizens against their will, and have ignored the constitutional limitations on their power, they actively demonstrate all of characteristics of a tyranny.
Sic Semper Tyrannis
The phrase “Sic Semper Tyrannis” is a quote attributed to Brutus when he participated in assassinating Caesar. Much later, it was used during the founding of the state of Virginia as a State Motto and it is in the State Seal. This was recommended by George Mason who was an attendee of the Constitutional Convention who refused to sign the final document because it created too strong of a central government and lacked sufficient rights for the people. It was then created by George Wythe, who represented Virginia in Congress when he signed the Declaration of Independence. The writers of the Declaration were revolting against what was considered one of the most free governments in the world at that time. Our founders were brave and bold enough to proclaim that, “A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.” They did not fall into the trap of considering themselves free merely because others were less so. Rather they determined within themselves what true freedom would look like. They did not mimic other’s attempts at freedom, and they did not console themselves that they had the best available option. They set out to establish a government founded on the precept of self-government by an empowered and enlightened citizenry. Rather than have an all-powerful government outline for the citizens what freedoms they would and would not enjoy, they followed the tenets of natural law and determined that the people are free and the government must recognize and protect those freedoms.
John Wilkes Boothe shouted this phrase when he killed President Abraham Lincoln. Among his
final entriesin his diary, Boothe wrote:
Until today nothing was ever thought of sacrificing to our country’s wrongs. For six months we had worked to capture, but our cause being almost lost, something decisive and great must be done. But its failure was owing to others, who did not strike for their country with a heart. I struck boldly, and not as the papers say. I walked with a firm step through a thousand of his friends, was stopped, but pushed on. A colonel was at his side. I shouted Sic semper before I fired. In jumping broke my leg. I passed all his pickets, rode sixty miles that night with the bone of my leg tearing the flesh at every jump. I can never repent it, though we hated to kill. Our country owed all her troubles to him, and God simply made me the instrument of his punishment. The country is not what it was. This forced Union is not what I have loved. I care not what becomes of me. I have no desire to outlive my country. The night before the deed I wrote a long article and left it for one of the editors of the National Intelligencer, in which I fully set forth our reasons for our proceedings.
Boothe believed that he was removing a tyrant who was unfit for ruling the country. He believed that Lincoln had fundamentally, and possibly irreparably, changed the very fabric of our nation. Without what he believed was bold and decisive action, the nation would no longer be what it once was. History favors the winners and Boothe fought for the losing side of history. As the nation ended the war in the North’s favor, he has gone down in history as a traitorous assassin rather than as a patriotic hero.
Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God
Tyranny is defined by actions, not intentions, not titles and not marketing. As our founders stated, it is the actions which define the character of a leader. Benjamin Franklin’s recommendation for the Great Seal of the US included the phrase, “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God”. Even Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologica stated:
A tyrannical government is not just, because it is directed, not to the common good, but to the private good of the ruler, as the Philosopher states (Polit. iii, 5; Ethic. viii, 10). Consequently there is no sedition in disturbing a government of this kind, unless indeed the tyrant’s rule be disturbed so inordinately, that his subjects suffer greater harm from the consequent disturbance than from the tyrant’s government. Indeed it is the tyrant rather that is guilty of sedition, since he encourages discord and sedition among his subjects, that he may lord over them more securely; for this is tyranny, being conducive to the private good of the ruler, and to the injury of the multitude
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It is clear that when the goals of the tyrant do not serve the people, but rather lord over them the wishes of the ruler or a ruling class, they it is clearly a tyranny and should be overthrown. The ruler represents authority and all authority should emulate God’s qualities. When a government no longer represents God by reflecting His qualities, namely Life, Liberty and Property, then not only are its citizens justified in overthrowing it, they are responsible to do so.
