Originally posted by Samueul:
Originally posted by BlueSky:
[b]I'm not accusing you of anything, just saying what it means to me when I read it. The truth is we'll never know what they really meant because it's worded in a way that's open to multiple interpretations.
"The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed; a well armed and well regulated militia being the best security of a free country; but no person religiously scrupulous of bearing arms shall be compelled to render military service in person."
This is much clearer to me and shows that at least Maddison wanted to ensure the peoples right to bear arms in addition to state militias etc. Why it got re-worded, who knows.[/b]Same reason the First Amendment got re-worded. Politics.
Original wording of the First: "The civil rights of none shall be abridged on account of religious belief or worship, nor shall any national religion be established, nor shall the full and equal rights of conscience be in any manner, or on any pretence, infringed."
_________________________
"Nature has constituted utility to man the standard and test of virtue. Men living in different countries, under different circumstances, different habits and regimens, may have different utilities; the same act, therefore, may be useful and consequently virtuous in one country which is injurious and vicious in another differently circumstanced" - Thomas Jefferson, moral relativist
Previous Topic
Index
