The duties of men

All men have certain duties they must perform in life, wrote W. Cleon Skousen in "The 5,000 Year Leap" There are basically two types of duties, which the founding fathers would refer to as unalienable duties. We are all indebted to these duties to keep society together.

There are essentially two duties

1. Public duties: You should be moral when serving the general public. They are usually supported by local and state ordinances which can be enforced by the police power of the state. These are principles of public morality.

2. Private duties: Those that exist between the individual and his creator. These are principles of private morality, and the rules are created and enforced by the individual. You may create any private rules for yourself so long as they do not supersede your public duties.

A good example here is drinking. Say you like to drink. If you drink at home you can drink as much as you want and act how you want. Yet once you are out in public, you will need to obey your public duties. If you do not, public laws will deal with you.

Here are some examples of duties as provided by Cleon:

1. Honor God
2. Not to kill
3. Not to steal
4. Not to destroy another person's property
5. Not to trespass
6. To respect other people
7. Children must honor their parents
8. Parents must do right by their children
9. To support laws to keep peace
10. Help the helpless
11. To honor contracts (pay your debt)
12. Not to get angry
13. To be economically self-sufficient
14. Keep your family together
15. For married men not to seek out other women
16. No treat all races equal
17. To vote
18. To participate in public office if you're called
19. To study and learn and keep informed
20. Not to participate in a crime
21. To be moral and virtuous