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TO HONOR THE MAGNA CARTA WITH ITS UNDERLYING BIBLICAL PRINCIPLES, RECOGNIZING ITS FUNDAMENTAL BASIS FOR WESTERN CIVILIZATION'S LIBERTY UNDER LAW AND ITS ROLE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF JURISPRUDENCE AND FREEDOM IN OUR NATION AND THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, AND TO DECLARE JUNE 15, 2015, AS "MAGNA CARTA DAY" IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
Whereas, eight hundred years ago on June 15, 1215 A. D., the Magna Carta, the "Great Charter of Liberties," was ordered sealed by King John of England, and he ordered copies of the document to be distributed through the Realm; and
Whereas, the signing of the Magna Carta in a meadow called Runnymede was the resolution of a violent dispute between King John and his barons over the liberties or freedoms of the subject; and
Whereas, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton, historian and biblical scholar, negotiated the celebrated meeting utilizing his expert knowledge of Old and New Testament texts related to godly law and government; and
Whereas, King John had claimed the Crown when his brother, King Richard the Lionheart, did not return speedily from the Crusades. He held a tyrannical rule marked by erratic, unrestrained cruelties that jeopardized his "subjects' lives, wives, estates and passage through gates," thereby offending the Church, the King of France, the Pope, and his own royal administrators and barons; and
Whereas, powerful barons joined forces against King John in a show of force and threatened to behead him, but the Archbishop persuaded them to desist and allow him to try to address the king's abuses and resolve the conflict over their list of grievances; and
Whereas, his response, the Magna Carta, is based upon an elevated set of principles, precepts, and practices concerning "licit" governance that presaged a permanent Parliament, Congress, and Knesset, intended to serve as a rein on those who reign; and
Whereas, a host of concepts common today derived from the Magna Carta: the Church not being under State; the right of women to own property; taxes, laws, and war being set by the people; the King being under, not above, the law; freedom of the press, religion, speech, and assembly; freedom to petition government for a redress of grievances; no taking of property without compensation; an accused person's being innocent until proven guilty; trial by jury of one's peers; no cruel or unusual punishment; a set place for court to meet; habeas corpus; and the due process of law; and
Whereas, in 1217 A. D., articles concerning property rights were transferred into a companion Charter of the Forest originally sealed in England by the young King Henry III, under the regency of William Marshall, to redress applications of the Anglo-Norman Forest Law and reestablish rights of access to the royal forest for free men; and
Whereas, Magna Carta principles have been employed in such documents forged by freedom-loving people, as the Virginia Charter in 1606, the Petition of Right in 1628, the English Bill of Rights in 1689, the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, the United States Constitution in 1787, and the United States Bill of Rights in 1789. Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:
That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, honor the Magna Carta with its underlying biblical principles, recognizing its fundamental basis for Western Civilization's liberty under law and its role in the development of jurisprudence and freedom in our nation and throughout the world, and declare June 15, 2015, as "Magna Carta Day" in South Carolina.
This web page was last updated on June 2, 2015 at 1:51 PM