Protection . . . to keep someone or something safe from injury, damage, or loss. It has been called the first duty of government.

​

It is suggested that the establishing documents of government should have the following characteristics:

• To set forth the basic rights of citizens to life, liberty, and property.

• To set forth the responsibility of the government to protect those rights.

• To set forth limitations on how those in government may use their powers with regard to citizens' rights and responsibilities.

​

More directly put, it is the responsibility of government to protect the right of all citizens to live freely. Threats to that freedom may come from internal or external forces. Generally, external threats are addressed by national military forces. Internal threats are addressed by local or regional police forces. 

 

The ability of government to protect the personal life, liberty, and property of its citizens is funded by taxation. The funding allows training, equipping, and activation of an army and various local/regional police forces; building of courts and jails; election or appointment of officials to form, implement, and enforce national policies and local laws that constrain threatening action by citizens upon other citizens, by external forces upon a community of citizens, or by the government itself upon its citizens.  

​

The establishment of laws recognizing substantive rights apart from the ability and willingness to protect those rights is useless. 

​

Therefore, good government, having actively embraced its responsibility to God, effectively enacts its responsibility to protect the life, liberty, and property of its citizens. Good government will proactively establish, fund, and sustain its military or police forces ensuring proper force strength, training, equipping, and continual readiness. Further, good government will proactively develop fair and proper policies or laws that balance both the enabling of protective action and proper limitations to such action thus ensuring the welfare of all its citizens. 

​

We pray for good government and its protection of our liberty and our welfare.