The Bill Of Duties Poem by David Welch

You have a right to speak your mind freely,
and express what's important to you,
you have a duty to make your words sincere,
and do what you must to speak the truth.
Also to protect those who would speak out,
even if with them you do not agree,
because if you try to silence them
then you're a hand-maiden of tyranny.

You have a right to worship what you will,
to believe the dictates of your conscience,
and not to let this be taken by folks
who claim that your morals only offend.
To never spread what you are thinking
by resorting to harsh methods of force,
and to resist those who would do it to you,
live-and-let-live, as a matter of course.

You have a right to assemble, protest,
to demand redress for the powerful,
to remember no right is optional,
but those in government do wish to full,
and that your protest must respect others,
since they also have a claim to this right,
and should the oppression continue on,
you may have a duty to go and fight.

You have a right to keep and bear weapons,
to defend your life with great lethality,
you have a duty to own a weapon,
to understand it's use in entirety,
to never us it unless there is no choice,
since a weapon only has one purpose,
to know when to use it, and if that time comes
to understand what happens when you miss.

You have a right to possess property,
to control all the fruits of your labor,
and a duty to respect the hard work
shown by the property of your neighbor.
To not let the success others have earned
drive you to a covetous jealousy,
to understand that all civilization
is based on people using their property.

You have a right to trial by jury,
and a presumption of your innocence,
you have a duty to respect other's rights,
not commit crimes against women and men.
To surrender if you're done the deed,
take responsibility for your crimes,
but to fight like hell if you're innocent,
not let injustice rob you of your time.

You have a right to select your leaders,
to pick out who is best to govern things,
tou have a duty to distrust them all,
even if they agree with what you're saying,
to recognize power corrupts all souls,
and those who seek it you should like the least,
that they're little better than unruly dogs,
and you've got to keep them on a short leash.

You have a right to protection by the law,
an expectation of equal treatment,
you have a duty to not ask for favors,
Not use skin or sex to sway sentiment.
To realize equality means one standard,
despite our problems, history, or past,
to treat people as individuals,
not collectives molded from the same cast.

You have a right to live with your freedoms,
to be the controlling force in your life,
you have a duty to understand that choice
is no guarantee things will go all right,
that life can be a challenging affair,
and no clear road to our success is paved,
but that having the chance to walk that road
is far better than living as a slave.