Rule of Law, not mere fascism...

If we consider the source of law in America, first we have the Judeo-Christian moral code which is premised upon the ten commandments.

By the time of the American Revolution, there was a clear Protestant view on the interpretation of these rules. One of the clearest comments as to why America exists is both Freedom OF and Freedom FROM Religion.

Although we believe everyone has a right to practice their own philosophy and religion within the context of common law, the need to impose an interpretation upon others is left for the courts.

To take an example, "This is not a Christian Nation in the strictest sense because it is not a crime to worship idols." Of this we are thankful for the wisdom of the founders, not so much because we insist on idolatry, rather that certain laws outlive their usefulness within the context of modern science, reason, and humanity.

Homosexuality is a real hot button issue. It is an good example of how science has informed us that by default something like 1 ~ 15% of all human have that innate psychology to be able to function as or ONLY function as such. So our human laws (in the past, wherein such practice was literally illegal) attempted to take precedence over natural laws.

A final Example, lets say the city council made it against the law for dogs to crap. Well, this is unreasonable by definition, because anyone who owns or has owned (or even has much of a brain in their head) can tell you that this is one of the important functions in the domestic arrangement between human and canine... they poop, and we pick it up (ideally).

So this hypothetical City Council might have more of a point in outlawing dogs from public streets and parks, imposing a fine for anyone walking a dog not picking up after the animal, or improving funding for their animal control department-- depending on what net effect they are attempting to have. Of course should they choose to impose all three one might argue this hypothetical Council has become Fascist, but more than argue it is the Responsibility of those citizens who disagree to then use the mechanism of Democracy and Government to reverse such laws.

And so government is a collective of human beings limited by their own knowledge, perspective, and abilities to attempt to effect change. Government makes laws, which are interpreted by courts. Eventually laws need to be improved to refine the result sought, modified to protect citizens bundle of rights, or even removed for being untenable.

Our founders understood this, and created a republic of States. Each State was a virtual country which belonged to a larger collective (until the Union was formed after the Civil War). The principles still remain, and each City, County, and State governance mechanism is a "laboratory of democracy."

You could only envision this in an Age of Reason.

A modern example of the cutting edge of the Rule of Law is California. Now I qualify by saying that not all is well in California Uber Alles, but our government is moving where the current USA administration and Congress has failed to adjust accordingly-- for instance in the fight against global warming.

Now that we have firmly established that law is not a fixed point, rather a moving target, which evolves like our thoughts, and bodies, over time, let us attempt to ascribe how we apply the law and live by it.

A further genius of our founders was to establish a Constitution. I could begin about the Magna Carta, or how the Founders used the example of the Ten Commandments which became adorned with hundreds of other more mutable laws thereafter by the Jews, rather I would like to take a more physical view.

The body and its functions were slowly being uncovered (along with things like physical science) back towards the end of the 18th century, and likewise the concept of "Constitution," or constituent parts is a great piece of genius in law.

We now know that the human body replaces EVERY cell something like every 12 to 180 days depending on the tissue type. This is really amazing and weird in and of itself, but thats not the point. There is always a liver, a heart, lungs, etc, and they're always more or less in the same place doing the same things-- otherwise that body dies.

So it is with our Rights and Responsibilities (chief amongst these is Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness-- although that is in the Declaration) that no matter what "cells" (Laws) are in place to assist the function of the "constitutional organs," it is the function which is most vital.

Therefore the role of law is to be clear, relevant, and applicable to the society which that law intends to govern.

In our case, the Founders added the role that all laws must be subset to our Bundle of Rights, and have put the functions of organized revolution (elections, balance of power, bill of rights) to ensure protection of these inalienable rights with which all American Humans are born.