On Civil Liberty

On Civil Liberty

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Civil liberties are a class of rights that protect individuals’ freedom from unwanted infringement and other persons, and ensure one’s ability to participate in the civil life of the state without discrimination or repression. These rights include the most fundamental rights as a citizen, such as the freedom of religion, and freedom of speech, and additionally, the right to due process, to a trial, to own property, and to privacy. In many countries, civil liberties are constitutional rights and are included in a bill of rights or similar document.

In a French document, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Lafayeyette declared the natural, unalienable and sacred rights of man. In America’s Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson argues that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. No matter endowed by god or set forth by public declaration, these civil liberties people have are stressed in both documents. Well, why did they underline that people have those unalienable rights and even put these rights into constitution?

Lafayette points out that “ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of the governments.” In other words, when civil liberties are not guaranteed to all as part of equal protection of laws, opposition and even social unrest may ensure.

In a society that advocates freedom, civil liberty is as important as the air that we cannot live without. Why do we need these liberties? If you have a look at the history of human society advancement, you will find the answer easily.

If the dissenting minority did not fight with those in power in the name of the self-evident truth, there would not be today America’s Bill of Rights or other similar bills in democratic systems. If our ancestors did not challenge the old practices or work hard to improve the incontinences, we would not have today’s achievements or improve our living conditions continuously. Please remember Socrates, who, because of his different thoughts, was executed by Athens. Please remember Jesus, who was crucified by Pilate. Please not forget the destroyed Alexandria Library and Roger Bacon, Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin. They are all pioneers of our society.

Moreover, religious freedom is another important civil liberty. Throughout history, people from all over the world have fought for their religious belief. For instance, during the Renaissance, Secularism was widely spread in Europe and some countries get free from the church due to public will. Later in America, religious freedom was written in the constitution, giving people the right to choose their religious belief freely. The scale and variety of acts of religious intolerance evident in so many countries today are of enormous contemporary concern. People are still fighting against any powers that seek to control their belief.

Discrimination never vanishes. Civil liberty belongs to not only white men but also the colored and women. The Emancipation Proclamation is a great contribution that Abraham Lincoln had made to the world. He claimed that “on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free; and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authority thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, and will do no act or acts to repress such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.” However, after the civil war the black are still not respected in the society, their life are still hard. Whereupon, Martin Luther King cried out “I have a dream…”Even today, around the world, people are suffering from discrimination. As long as discrimination exists, people’s rebel goes on.

In addition, the right to privacy, the right to be free from unreasonable searches of your home, and the right to a fair court trial are also liberties we get through struggle.

To sum up, where there is infringement to civil liberty, there is revolt. Only when individuals are treated equally and fairly can we find peace.

Biography

Jefferson, T. 1776. United States Declaration of Independence

Marquis de Lafayette and Jefferson, T. 1789. Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen

Edwin S. Newman, 1979. Civil Liberty and Civil Rights, Oceana Publications, Inc. Dobbs Ferry, New York

The Constitution of the United States