Talk:Gerrard Winstanley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Although the True Levellers and the Levellers so-called are sometimes confused as being one and the same, there was a basic difference between the two that has not been lost on modern day lawmakers and jurists (such as the late US Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black.)
The True Levellers were also called The Diggers for good reason: they took real estate belonging to others and occupied it for their own common cause. The basis of their motivation was the Book of Acts and its reference to having all things in common. They were Christian Communists who should not be confused with atheistic communists who pledge their loyalty to a state or a human group. The leader of the True Levellers was Gerrard Winstanley.
On the other hand many individuals who began to support the ideas of Freeborn John Lilburne were striving for equality in the law, not common ownership of property. The legacy of John Lilburne has come down to us today as the US Fifth Amendment, the US Miranda Warning and even the ideas embodied in the US First Amendment and Second Amendment.
John Lilburne did not like the term "Leveller" and said that they were the "Levellers so-called". He was an Agitator for freeborn rights, rights that every human being is born with. Today we refer to human rights when we often mean government granted privileges. Freeborn rights are those that abhor slavery and any form of power struggle which unnaturally places one human being above another human being because of some claimed birthright.
Freeborn rights are those rights that African-Americans have long championed as the bedrock right of every human being to exist on this planet without permission from any other human being. We are all equal under God.
The US Declaration of Independence upholds this same concept. It does not champion Christianity, it simply says that our basic rights come from "Nature" and "Nature's God". On that score the American Indians would also be in agreement. But the twisting and misquoting of the Declaration has led many to believe that the US Declaration upholdd a man-made denomination when it does no such thing. The only place that Christianity is mentioned is when the "Christian King" of Great Britain is attacked for starting a race war during the period of the US ar for Independence.
It is ironic that both the liberal left (Earl Warren, William O. Douglas, Hugo Black) and the conservative right (Heritage Foundation, Pat Robertson) have hailed the works of Freeborn John as the bedrock of the US Constitution. Where his legacy is missing is in the middle, because it is missing in school text books that are mired in partisan politics with international links to the UK. MPLX/MH 23:54, 17 Oct 2004 (UTC)
[edit] Translation Problem
I started a translation of this article for teh german wikipedia, but i come to a problem. I cant find the first citation in my translated version of "the new law of righteoussnes". Are you shure it is from this tract not from another one? Thanks for help 62.158.136.124 21:35, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC) (benni in german wikipedia)
- I have now revised and extended the text to clarify who Gerrard Winstanley was, what he believed, how the True Levellers got their name. I will look for the reference that you are seeking. MPLX/MH 23:06, 14 Mar 2005 (UTC)
