Magna Carta

While Prince John was the stereotypical evil prince, he was in fact evil, and continued this when he became king when his brother Richard died without any children. The 25 most important Barons of the land were in open revolt against King John. The English kings’ hold on the throne was always a little tenuous, but John was less popular than most. This probably explains how and why the Robin Hood legend came to be and grew so strong. The English Barons got together and forced John to accept certain limits to his power. For the first time the king would be subject, theoretically at least, to the laws of England. One of the rights given, not just to the Barons (eventually) but to every man was this:

29. NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.

While the Magna Carta was in effect for only a few months, various version of it were signed by various kings over the centuries. The Magna Carta led to the 4th amendment of the American Constitution:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In other words your home is safe from government unless there is a probable cause or a warrant signed by a judge. That was the law until recently. Now, at least in Indiana, that is no longer the case. The government can, for no reason, enter your home illegally and you can do nothing about it. Here is how the New York Times describes it:

Overturning a common law dating back to the English Magna Carta of 1215, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Hoosiers have no right to resist unlawful police entry into their homes. In a 3-2 decision, Justice Steven David writing for the court said if a police officer wants to enter a home for any reason or no reason at all, a homeowner cannot do anything to block the officer's entry.

In the words of one blogger we are less free today than in Medieval England. 

To return to our boiling frogs analogy: Do you feel the heat as the water gradually boils away our freedoms? I have posted several outrages on my facebook page.  

The church fined $4000 dollars for trimming their own trees on their own property.

A modest raiser of rabbits in Nixa, Missouri, is facing a fine of $90,000 for raising rabbits without a federal license. If the fine is not paid immediately, the fine will be raised to $4 million. They sold $4600 worth of bunnies over the years.

Magicians who pull a rabbit out of their hat need a government license.

A farmer threatened with a $100,000 dollar (Canadian) fine if he removes carp from his flooded field without a fishing license.

Or the man who spent years in prison for importing lobsters in plastic bags instead of boxes.

Finally, here are 12 absurd government regulations.  

Do you feel the heat yet? The fact we are not approaching our government with metaphorical pitchforks in hand tells a lot about us Americans and how we are deceived by Babylon the Great.

Folks, when will we wake up?