Roger Williams Quotes
If any refuse to obey the common laws and orders of the ship concerning their common peace or preservation; if any shall mutiny or rise up against their commanders and officers; if any should preach or write that there should be no commanders or officers because all are equal in Christ, therefore no master or officers, no laws nor orders, nor corrections nor punishments - I say I never denied that in such cases, the commander may judge, resist, compel, and punish such transgressors according to their deserts and merits.
Williams, Roger. "Letter to the Town of Providence, January 1655." The Letters of Roger Williams, edited by John Russell Bartlett, Providence Press Company, 1874.
History is replete with instances of military coups. In the final analysis, in every country at all times, there is no force in a society that could cope with a military which decides to act on its own. The Founding Fathers were very conscious of this reality and history, hence the firm civilian control of the military in America.
Yazid ibn al-Walid ibn 'Abd al-Malik. This is an Islamic doctrine that operates to this day together with the stricture that a bad ruler must be endured and not revolted against UNLESS he does not follow his Islamic religious obligations. This is why many Islamic rulers curry favor with the clerics. As long as they do not claim he is violating the word of God, his rule is safe from revolution. However, if the clerics turn on him, he is in deep trouble. Thus Saudi Arabia endures a monarchy and the ruling family pays the Wahhabi enormous sums to avoid their religious condemnation.
“Familia” in Latin meant in this context, the community or the citizens as opposed to the officials, The Bishop determined the former was under attack by the officials who in the probating of wills and estates would take bribes or levy taxes under “laws” that they would make up on the spot bilking the rightful inheritors of the property and wealth of the deceased. The principle that laws and regulations must be written down in advance and not otherwise, is a fundamental part of Western law today, But as this quotation shows, it was not always such.
government appointed officials and bureaucrats Savonarola was a very hated ruler, opposed to any kind of a Parliament or assembly. And the penalty for advocating for a Parliament was severe. The Signoria were the various government appointees and clerks. They were influential in Florence and hence they were silenced by the mot draconian methods. There was a movement throughout Italy for parliaments and less arbitrary government. Savonarola was particularly strict in his rooting out sin and cruel in his punishments and hence very unpopular. He was also under the delusion that God himself had called on him to preach his strict version of morality. Some of the Nobles reached the Pope with many of Savonarola’s extreme statements and Savonarola was excommunicated and burned as a heretic. His executioner gloated that he was burning Savonarola before the powerful priest could burn him as he had done so many others.
Several years before the Battle of Bunker Hill, revolutionary activity had already broken out in the American colonies—See {634132} for an example. This law gave the British authorities much more “clout” in dealing with the “seditious” American activities. It protected English law enforcement officials from being tried in local Colonial courts for murder or assault in putting down insurrections. George Washington and other Patriots were outraged over this law. See {634131}.
Obama was a President who believed deeply in the concepts of checks and balances and separation of powers. He did not punish members of Congress who opposed him by closing federal installations in their state of district, not giving government contracts to companies in his district and in the case of member of his own party who were “recalcitrant” supporting opponent in primary elections and failing to support in general elections. Presidents Nixon and Johnson used these techniques particularly effectively. As a result they pushed their legislative programs through Congress very effectively. All other modern Presidents have done this to one degree or another, but Obama did not. He believed that pressure on member of Congress should be limited to persuasion and public debate moving public opinion. Many seasoned politicians and political observers however thought that this was Obama’s biggest weakness as a President. Lyndon Johnson did not have to actually punish many member of Congress, as his willingness to do so was well known and thus few opposed him when he called or met with them and “gave them the treatment.” But Congress knew that Obama had taken punishment and retaliation off the table, and many opposed him including member of his own party.
The Roman Catholic Defender Organization had about 300 thousand volunteers, and Belfast was the central location of the Defender leaders.
Roger Williams was a Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and later the U.S. state of Rhode Island. He was a staunch advocate for religious freedom, separation of church and state, and fair dealings with Native Americans.
