Question: How many other countries have an equivalent of the US Constitution along with a Bill of Rights like we enjoy? Short answer—None. What America has is totally unique. The Bill of Rights is all about freedom and rights! Sadly, many Americans take these liberties for granted and assume the citizens of most countries experience what we have.

The history of most of the world is born of monarchies, aristocracies, oligarchies, dictators, and warlords, where the people are viewed primarily as serfs, subjects or even slaves. Oppression, servitude and government-granted rights are their lifelong experience. To this day, many nations do not have a substantial middle class—just the rich and the poor. Historically, large numbers of people on earth have been viewed as workers for the state or the empire.

America is different and has been so from the very beginning. When Americans threw off the fetters of monarchy, they created a new form of Republicanism, one with structurallimits on the government’s power. It was a government of and by the people and their representatives. America not only has a constitution, but it has a rare and unique Bill of Rights. The original, unamended constitution was a remarkable achievement, establishing a revolutionary structure of government that put power in the hands of the people. The Bill of Rights built on that foundation, protecting our most cherished American freedoms, including the due process of law. For more than two centuries the Bill of Rights has shaped what it means to be American.

The 10 amendments known as our Bill of Rights were ratified on December 15, 1791, and are a part of the Constitution. The 10 amendments serve as a guarantee of individual rights and liberties and limit the powers of the federal government. These rights include provisions for civil liberties such as freedom of speech, press, and religion, right to keep and bear arms, protections against unreasonable searches and seizures, right to assembly and a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury. It also sets rules for due process of law and reserves all powers not delegated to the Federal Government to the people or the States. These rights are a cornerstone of American democracy, ensuring that the government respects and protects the rights of its citizens.

What would America be like without these precious rights? Most likely such rights would have been as privileges doled out at the whim of government and revoked or infringed at their convenience, as we see happening in other countries. Let us thank God for the wisdom of our founding fathers who gave us a Bill of Rights.

Next time we will look at some of the individual rights granted in the Bill of Rights and what those rights mean for us today.

Pr. Ray Ballmann
Glen Rose, Texas