You Have The Right

“You have the Right”

By

Bishop Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.

PRELUDE:- As I look back over the past few months and think about how life has changed and yet how so many things have stayed the same. I am perplexed at the times we find ourselves living in. The Coronavirus came and changed the way we live in dramatic ways, social distancing has become a new way of living, wearing mask is now regulation, traveling was brought to a halt, homes became classrooms, offices, and places of solitude. People were awakened to the reality that systemic racism is real and were shocked into actuality when they watched in total amazement as George Floyd was literally killed on national T.V., then shortly thereafter see Rayshard Brooks gunned down in a Wendy’s parking lot. Protesters were treated like terrorist shot with rubber bullets, gassed with tear gas, and herded by the national guard like cattle for the opportunity to take a picture in front of a church while holding a Bible. Then after a summer of hopeful unification and understanding we are shaken again by the senseless and brutal shooting of Jacob Brooks, not once but seven times. When protesters take a stand against the ridiculous and inhumane actions of the police they are faced by a supremist militia where 2 people are killed and 1 seriously injured by a 17 year old delinquent with a rap sheet as long as my arm who was literally from another town and was yet brought there by his mother who needs to be charged with accessory to murder, as an act of heroism and patriotism . We are living literally in a time when the inalienable rights of people are non-existent. However; I am here today to let you know “You Have the Right”.

PRAYER: -

SCRIPTURES:- Galatians 4:1-7 says “Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ”.

What a powerful scripture. When you get the revelation of this scripture it releases something down on the inside of you that does like the old Sunday school song said – “It’s a bubbling, it’s a bubbling, it’s a bubbling down in my soul – I’m singing, I’m shouting since Jesus has made me whole” .

OPENING: - If you have ever watched a television show where there is a police officer and a criminal you have heard from time and time again the police officer read the suspect his or her Miranda Rights. After placing the suspect under arrest, the officer will say something like, “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you.” The Miranda Rights were created in 1966 as a result of the United States Supreme Court case of Miranda v. Arizona. The Miranda rights are a warning intended to protect a person’s Fifth Amendment right to refuse to answer and avoid self-incriminating questions.

The First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States protects your right to assemble and express your views through protest. However, police and other government officials can place certain narrow restrictions on the exercise of speech rights and assembly rights as we have witnesses recently when they interfere with a governmental photo-op.

It is extremely important to understand your rights, the main reason why it is so important to know your rights is to protect yourself. People that know nothing about their rights will get in trouble or be faced with a situation and find themselves unable to protect themselves or stand up for themselves because they do not understand their rights or if they have the right to do so or not. It’s important and always good to know what your rights are, if you don’t know them, then you cannot stand up and fight for them.

The NRA and other gun carrying individuals protest, stand-up, and speak out against any action to try to stop them from being able to carry their guns because they understand they have the right to bear arms.