Posted on 02/24/2020 2:20:13 AM PST by Jacquerie
When it comes to its talking points, The John Birch Society (JBS) is thick with assertions and thin with evidence and history. For instance, the JBS regards the US Constitution as perfection on earth. This isn’t an exaggeration.1 The JBS simply disregards the Framers’ perception of their work.
Right out of the chute in 1788, Alexander Hamilton in Federalist 85 encouraged the remaining states outside the Union to ratify the Constitution and join their fellows in Article V to provide amendments that better secured some basic rights. The Constitution, he wrote, was not “absolute perfection,” but upon the whole, it was good plan, “the best that the present views and circumstances of the country will permit.” He went on:
The convention delegates from diverse societies did their best, yet didn’t expect their work to remain frozen in time. While the JBS finds perfection in our governing form today, it curiously doesn’t address the Constitution’s previous versions. Was it perfect in 1787? Was it imperfect after each successive amendment until it finally reached fulfillment with passage of the last amendment in 1992? The JBS doesn’t say.
(Excerpt) Read more at articlevblog.com ...
To accuse the JBS of having refused to "see" the Founders' first visions is, IMO, too short of a conclusion to the Article 5 debate today.
I'm willing to await the end of Trump's second term to see where the health of The Constitution lays.
“They all started lookin’ real suspicious at him
And he jumped up an’ said jes’ wait a minute Jim
You know he’s lyin’ I’ve been livin’ here all of my life”
“I’m a faithfull follower of Brother John Birch
And I belong to the Antioch Baptist Church
And I ain’t even got a garage you can call home and ask my wife”
As the amendment process is part of the original Constitution, allowing for "tweaks" as we went along would sure seem like perfection.
What is it about our Constitution do you detest?
I’m inclined to be sympathetic to them, my mother was, but I know an individual who writes for them, articles he writes are thinly manipulative, he appears not to have a high estimate of the intelligence of his readers, and, besides, he treated his wife abysmally, using an excuse to get rid of her, in the context of their conservative community which doesn’t allow easy divorce. I’m sorry that Dr. Samuel Blumenfeld was associated with them, but because of that very fact, I have looked at askance at Dr. Blumenfeld’s work, in looking at the destructive work of John Dewey. https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3801837/posts
I’m probably older than the majority of Freepers and I’m not, nor have I ever been, a member of JBS. I did, however, end up on their mailing list back in the early 80s when I was stationed in Texas. I’ve always been a constitutional conservative, so I read their materials with some interest and a healthy dose of skepticism. Now, looking back on it, I have to admit that a LOT of the things JBS predicted 40 years ago have come to pass.
Our Constitution and our form of government is, in no way, perfect. It is, in my opinion, as close to perfect as anything man has yet done, but it’s incumbent upon those of us who actually give a $hit to defend it - and start by rolling back federal government overreach for things like “education.” As I’m sure someone else has said, the Department of Education has never educated anyone.
With my limited knowledge of JBS, i would concur.
A gold star to them for garnering bad press from the media
for decades now..
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