Reconsider points made regarding freedom

In response to the recent letter to the editor titled “Tyranny of the Spirit”, I would suggest that the esteemed gentleman please reread and reconsider the points I made regarding freedom. The validity of the points made are ill-refuted through the use of misrepresentation, straw-man arguments and ad hominem attacks.

Addressing some of the points raised in the response:

I did not question cultural values but rather reserved my observations for the actions of a government that has made every intent to bend the free individual to the will of the State and, ironically, by extension, subsume the cultural values of the individuals that comprise society, to the cultural values of the State. For example, the cultural values here in the Big Horn Basin espouse, among other things, religion, guns, hunting, fierce self-reliance, etc. The cultural values of Washington are 180 degrees out from those. Why should an individual living by the cultural values here accept an infringement of those values by way of legislation, taxation, fees, fines, and other mechanisms?

I did not equate the Constitution to Holy Scripture although many of the authors of the Constitution were guided and inspired by their Creator while laboring to cobble together a framework of laws to define and constrain the new Republic. That said, the Constitution is the legal supreme law of the land by which the federal government is to abide. Variance from the Constitution is quite frankly, breaking the law.

I did not state that the individual’s goals, desires, or freedoms are any more important than anyone else’s. I do believe, however, that as long as the individual’s pursuit of the same does not harm anyone else, then the individual should be free to pursue his own course without interference from a state that claims to know better than the individual how to guide that course or achieve the ends.

I agree that we should be open to listening to other points of view. And, I agree that we should be able to disagree. But, I will not compromise my beliefs, as that would be akin to having no principles. How this equates to a “tyranny of the spirit” is beyond me...so I guess we will disagree on that conclusion.

Back to the points made in my original column, I look forward to a reasoned discourse that might sway or solidify my premise that we are not, by any definition, the free people that is our birthright.

Victor Morales