A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties (15 page)

In the 227 years since the Constitution of the United States was ratified, there have only been twenty-seven amendments to this amazing document. Many more than that have been proposed, but the framers of the Constitution wisely
made the amendment process, outlined in Article 5, rather difficult, recognizing that there would always be those who are dissatisfied with the status quo and want change.

The framers were intelligent and well-read men who worked diligently for months on the document. Their strong desire was to create a constitution that would never allow the United States government to subvert the will of the people. But in their wisdom, the founders recognized that they were mortal creatures who could not know the future. They studied history and planned for the future, but they knew that a rapidly growing and changing nation would encounter situations they had not foreseen. The Constitution might need to be updated to address new circumstances, so the founders set in place procedures for amendment.

Any amendment to the Constitution must be presented to and approved by three quarters of the states. There are two ways an amendment can be proposed. First, two thirds of the states can petition Congress to call for a national convention, and the delegates to the convention can propose an amendment. Alternatively, if both houses of Congress agree, they can propose an amendment. This second option is far less cumbersome and, in fact, the first option has yet to be used. It usually makes more sense for states to propose an amendment through their already-elected national representatives than to go through the expense and complexity of a national convention.

Once an amendment has been proposed, it must be ratified in order to take effect. There are two methods of ratification, and Congress gets to decide which method will be used. The first method is for the state legislatures to approve the amendment. The second is for special conventions called
by the states to approve the amendment. Regardless of which method is used, three quarters of the states must ratify the amendment to make it a part of the Constitution.

It really is quite amazing that our Constitution allows the people through their representatives to change the government. Historically, significant governmental changes have usually occurred through violence and revolution. This peaceful and orderly change process is truly exceptional and is one of the reasons why the United States has thrived.

Not everyone is content with peaceful change. Radical groups like the Weathermen, the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS), and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) have advocated deceit and violence as techniques for effecting governmental change. We should always be wary of those who want to fundamentally change our society without using the legitimate tools in place to do so.

Finally, Article 5 clearly indicates that the right of every state, no matter how small, to have two senators cannot be amended. This was one of the provisions that saved the union when there was so much disagreement about how the states would be represented, and it remains as a guarantee that the founders’ compromise was not in vain.

The main purpose of Article 6 is to state unequivocally that the Constitution is the law of the land. The delegates knew they would need to make it clear to both the states and foreign powers that the Constitution overrode any earlier laws. They also needed to show that the new government under the
Constitution was united and was prepared to look out for the interests of all of the states.

Accordingly, they declared in the first clause that all debts contracted by the United States before the adoption of the Constitution would still be recognized by the new government. This demonstrates the integrity of our government at the time of the writing of our Constitution. Historically when there was a change of regime, often those in charge of the new regime refused to pay back debts that the previous regime had incurred. Our fledgling nation refused to take the low road, and our first secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, agreed to pay back the estimated $77 million we owed, even though the bonds for this debt did not nearly cover the cost.
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This is one of the reasons why even as a fledgling nation, the United States had an extremely good credit rating throughout the world. This began a long tradition of fiscal responsibility, which unfortunately disappeared several decades ago.

Article 6 also establishes the hierarchy of legislation in our nation. Laws made by the United States Congress are sovereign, those created by state legislatures are in the next tier, and local laws are subservient to those. In other words, a town legislature cannot make a law that contradicts the law of its state, and a state cannot make a law that contradicts a law made by Congress. One can only imagine the chaos that would ensue without this clause of the Constitution.

All government officials, whether federal, state, or local, are sworn to uphold the U.S. Constitution. We must all recognize that the many rights and freedoms we enjoy could evaporate rapidly if we do not jealously guard every aspect of this document. It has withstood the test of time and is partly responsible for the incredible accomplishments of this nation.

Although there is no specific mention of the separation of church and state in the Constitution, a clause in this article makes it clear that government positions should not be denied to anyone because of their religious affiliation, nor should any particular religious litmus test be applied to those seeking government employment. Our founders in many cases were men of great faith. Many of them had seen the societal harm that occurs when religion is suppressed or when it is elevated to a position of political control. They wanted to ensure that neither of these situations ever occurred in our nation. We should always be the beacon of religious freedom and tolerance, including the religion of atheism. We must always remember the concept of “live and let live,” because it is one of the founding principles of our nation.

As long as we are the United States of America, the Constitution will be the supreme law, and we must do everything we can to make sure we uphold it. I pray that we will remember the principles of fiscal responsibility and religious freedom articulated in Article 6—we cannot remain free without them.

The final article of the Constitution states that ratification by nine states would be sufficient for the Constitution to become the law of the land. The first state to ratify the Constitution was Delaware, followed by Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, South Carolina, New Hampshire, Virginia, and New York. After George Washington became president, North Carolina and Rhode Island also ratified the Constitution.
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The names of George Washington and the other thirty-nine signers ended the document.
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These men placed their names on a document that would steer our country well for more than two hundred years—and counting. They were not perfect, and neither was the document they signed, but it recognized its own weaknesses and set in place countermeasures. You cannot ask for much more in this life.

As Articles 4 through 7 demonstrate, the founders thought they had done a pretty good job designing “a more perfect Union,” so they made it difficult to undo their efforts. Fortunately, they were also humble enough to recognize that mechanisms for change would be needed. We can be thankful for that today; it is likely that those mechanisms will be needed in the not-too-distant future to establish term limits, something not needed in our nation’s early days but desperately needed now.

We can feel confident that our Constitution is flexible enough to accommodate any necessary changes yet rigid enough to withstand unwarranted tampering. We are indeed fortunate to have had founders who were not only brilliant but also compassionate and wise. If we exercise those same characteristics going forward, the future for our children will be secured.

THE BILL OF RIGHTS

“For the Lord is our judge, our lawgiver, and our king. He will care for us and save us.”

Isaiah 33:22

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t wasn’t long before Americans found the need to improve on the Constitution and passed the first ten amendments, known as the Bill of Rights. These were adopted in 1791, and many of them are much more familiar to the general public than is the Constitution itself. This is because the Bill of Rights specifically guarantees individual rights of citizens and is responsible for many of our freedoms today.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Our Constitution was not designed to create uniformity of speech, behavior, or beliefs. Instead it was designed to ensure that everyone could live, speak, and believe as they pleased, as long as their actions did not infringe upon the rights of others. These incredibly important rights were not addressed in the Constitution, yet it is hard to imagine a United States without these safeguards.

Many of the founders of this nation and their ancestors had suffered religious persecution overseas and were acutely aware of the dangers of having a state-sponsored religion. A theocracy was clearly not the goal of the establishment of our nation, and this amendment guaranteed that we would never allow religion to dictate to government.

Looking back at the extreme intolerance manifested in the past by many religious groups, including some Christian groups, and looking today at the extreme intolerance of some radical Islamic groups, it is not hard to understand why our founders were so frightened of religion controlling government. The wall of separation between church and state is important and should be maintained. However, it should not be extended and reinterpreted as the separation of God and state.

There is nothing in our Constitution or its amendments to indicate that all vestiges of faith must be removed from the public square. This inappropriate extension of the concept of separation between church and state is in fact in direct opposition to the portion of the First Amendment that says Congress can make no law “prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” This phrase means that no one should be prohibited from living a life of faith according to the dictates of conscience, as long as they are not harming others.

It becomes somewhat absurd when some claim that the sight of a Bible or a cross causes them so much psychological distress that it impinges upon their freedom. It is important that we learn to be reasonable and tolerant of everyone’s beliefs without going to such extremes that we compromise everyone’s rights.

The First Amendment also protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Suppression of freedom of speech is the ultimate manifestation of intolerance. Tyrants never want to be challenged, nor do they wish for others to hear anything that opposes their views. Dictators know that free speech may inspire suppressed populations to turn against them, so they quell speech through intimidation.

While we rarely see direct silencing of speech by the government in America today, there are other groups out to destroy free speech. On many college campuses in America today, conservative students and professors are intimidated into silence, and conservative speakers are not invited to give commencement addresses because the liberal administration does not wish for the students to be exposed to an alternative way of thinking.
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This also occurs on some conservative campuses in the opposite direction, but to a much smaller degree. Rather than concentrate on assigning blame for this intolerance, we should concentrate on creating an open and stimulating environment for discussion, especially in our institutions of higher learning. After all, if our young people are not taught to value free speech, they may not defend it when their generation rises to power.

The only business specifically protected by our Constitution is the press. Our founders saw the press as an ally of the
people. They believed that a free press would expose all questionable actions and policies of our leaders, regardless of their political affiliation. Unfortunately, they would be disappointed with our media today.

When the press largely ignores this noble calling and instead aligns itself with one political party or another, it gives license to that party to ignore the rule of law without fear of exposure or questions. This eventually leads to the erosion of trust and freedom. We can all hope and pray that at some point the majority of members of the press will once again align themselves with the interests of the American people and reject partisan politics and manipulation. Our nation needs a free and unbiased press.

Finally, the First Amendment addresses the right of Americans to assemble. Some societies do not allow their citizens to assemble and peacefully protest governmental policies because the governments are afraid of being overthrown. Our founders wanted to ensure the rights of citizens to gather for any reason, as long as they did it in a peaceful manner. They were not fearful of criticism and actually wanted to hear the thoughts of all of the constituents of the union. This freedom to assemble and express grievances has served as an outlet for unrest and as an effective way of requesting change. As a result, we have had hundreds of years of relative domestic peace.

It should be noted that there is a significant difference between peaceful assembly and assembling to incite rioting and violence. The latter is not protected by the Bill of Rights, nor should it be. We are a country under the rule of law, and if we fail to uphold those laws, lawlessness will increase and freedom will decrease. The purpose of the First Amendment
was to increase freedom, not to decrease it, and we must keep that in mind as we consider how to uphold it.