lvc@cbsck.UUCP (Larry Cipriani) (11/02/84)
Topics: Freedom of Religion
The Right to Property
Protection of Privacy
Government Secrecy
Internal Security and Civil Liberties
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Conscription and the Military
10. Freedom of Religion
We defend the rights of individuals to engage in (or abstain from) any
religious activities that do not violate the rights of others. In order to
defend religious freedom, we advocate a strict separation of church and State.
We oppose government actions that either aid or attack any religion. We
oppose taxation of church property for the same reason we oppose all taxation.
We condemn the attempts by parents or any others -- via kidnappings,
conservatorships, or instruction under confinement -- to force children to
conform to their parents' or any others' religious views. Government
harassment or obstruction of unconventional religious groups for the
beliefs or nonviolent activities must end.
11. The Right to Property
There is no conflict between property rights and human rights. Indeed,
property rights are the rights of humans with respect to property, and
as such, are entitled to the same respect and protection as all other
human rights.
Moreover, all human rights are property rights, too. Such rights as the
freedom from involuntary servitude and the freedom of speech and press
are based on self-ownership. Our bodies are our property every bit as much
as is justly acquired land or material objects.
We further hold that the owners of property have the full right to control,
use, dispose of, or in any manner enjoy, their property without interference,
until and unless the exercise of their control infringes the valid rights
of others. We oppose all violations of the right to private property,
liberty of contract, and freedom of trade done in the name of national
security. We also condemn current government efforts to regulate or ban the
use of property in the name of aesthetic values, riskiness, moral standards,
cost-benefit estimates, or the promotion or restriction of economic growth.
We demand an end to the taxation of privately owned real property, which
actually makes the State the owner of all lands and forces individuals
to rent their homes and places of business from the State. We condemn recent
attempts to employ eminent domain to municipalize sports teams or to try
to force them to stay in their present location.
Where property, including land, has been taken from its rightful owners
by government or private action in violation of individual rights, we favor
restitution to the rightful owners. Specifically, we call for the return
of lands taken from Americans of Japanese ancestry during the Second
World War.
12. Protection of Privacy
The individual's privacy, property, and right to speak or not to speak
should not be infringed by the government. The government should not use
electronic or other means of covert surveillance of an individual's actions
or private property without the consent of the owner or occupant.
Correspondence, bank and other financial transactions and records, doctors'
and lawyers' communications, employment records, and the like should not
be open to review by government without the consent of all parties involved
in those actions. So long as the National Census and all federal, state and
other government agencies' compilations of data on an individual continue
to exist, they should be conducted only with the consent of the persons from
whom the data are sought.
We oppose the issuance by the government of an identity card, to be required
for any purpose, such as for employment, voting, or border crossings.
13. Government Secrecy
We condemn the government's use of secret classifications to keep from the
public information that it should have. We favor substituting a system in
which no individual may be convicted for violating government secrecy
classifications unless the government discharges its burden of proving that
the publication:
a. violated the right of privacy of those who have been coerced into
revealing confidential or proprietary information to government agents, or
b. disclosed defensive military plans so as to materially impair the
capability to respond to attack.
It should always be a defense to such prosecution that information divulged
shows that the government has violated the law.
14. Internal Security and Civil Liberties
We call for the abolition of all federal secret police agencies. In
particular, we seek the abolition of the Central Intelligence Agency and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and we call for a return to the
American tradition of local law enforcement. We support Congressional
investigation of criminal activities of the CIA and of wrongdoing by other
government agencies.
We support the abolition of the subpoena power as used by Congressional
committees against individuals or firms. We hail the abolition of the
House Internal Security Committee and call for the destruction of its files
on private individuals and groups. We also call for the abolition of the
Senate Subcommittee on Internal Security.
15. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms
Maintaining our belief in the inviolability of the right to keep and bear
arms, we oppose all laws at any level of government restricting the ownership,
manufacture, transfer, or sale of firearms or ammunition. We oppose all laws
requiring registration of firearms or ammunition. We also oppose any
government efforts to ban or restrict the use of tear gas, "mace", or
other non-firearm protective devices. We further oppose all attempts to ban
weapons or ammunition on the grounds that they are risky and unsafe.
We support repeal of the National Firearms Act of 1935 and the Federal
Gun Control Act of 1968, and we demand the immediate abolition of the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.
We favor the repeal of laws banning the concealment of weapons or
prohibiting pocket weapons. We also oppose the banning of inexpensive
handguns ("Saturday night specials").
16. Conscription and the Military
Recognizing that registration is the first step toward full conscription,
we oppose all attempts at compulsory registration of any person and all
schemes for automatic registration through government invasions of the
privacy of school, motor vehicle, or other records. We call for the
abolition of the still-functioning elements of the Selective Service System,
believing that impressment of individuals into the armed forces in involuntary
servitude. We call for the destruction of all files in computer-readable
or hard-copy form compiled by the Selective Service System. We also oppose
any form of national service, such as a compulsory youth labor program.
We oppose adding women to the pool of those eligible for and subject to the
draft, not because we think that as a rule women are unfit for combat,
but because we believe that this step enlarges the number of people subjected
to governmental tyranny.
We support the immediate and unconditional exoneration of all who have been
accused or convicted of draft evasion, desertion from the military, and
other acts of transgressions as imperialistic wars and aggressive acts of
the military. Members of the military should have the same right to quit
their jobs as other persons.
We call for the end of the Defense Department practice of discharging armed
forces personnel for homosexual conduct. We further call for retraction of
all less-than-honorable discharges previously assigned for such reasons and
deletion of such information from military personnel files.
We recomment the repeal of the Uniform Code of Military Justice and the
recognition and equal protection of the rights of armed forces members.
This will promote thereby the morale, dignity, and sense of justice within
the military.