You can't get the government to obey the Constitution because its members regard themselves as our rulers, not our agents. Which tells me they do not understand the Constitution; or if they do, they have willfully chosen to ignore it. And evidently they think they can get away with this, because the people themselves are ignorant of the founding principles of the Constitution. Meanwhile, we have all been thoroughly "socialized" by progressive doctrines which are totally antithetical to the thought of the Framers, and their original intention for our Constitutional Democratic Republic, wherein the people themselves are sovereign, having no "ruler" on earth, but only God Himself.
I know you will disagree with me. I can't help it -- I just see matters differently than you do. When I read Story, I am not satisfied with merely scanning the text, but in looking for the deeper meanings. Story was writing at a time when the national psyche was still pretty much informed by the Framers' understandings. Indeed, as late as 1957 (or was it 1959?), the words "Under God" were added to the Pledge of Allegience, as a reminder to us of who we are and where we as a nation came from.... Too little, too late; for America has been under seige of Left progressive ideologies (all of which are perfectly conformable with evolutionary humanism and "natural selection") since the early Twentieth Century.
I'll tell you this, based on what I've seen: I do not expect America can or will survive "evolutionary humanism." I'm just waiting with bated breath for the other shoe to drop....
The only way to get our country back is to once again recognize that we are a nation "under God." Remember the hierarchy I spoke of earlier?
God
Man
State
That's the model the Framers envisioned -- not in a sectarian way, but as the general ethical and philosophical idea of our founding. Here's the hierarchy we've got today:
Tyrant [the "ruling class" together with their ideological supporters]
State [the overweening, inefficient, unaccountable federal bureaucracy]
Man [subject of the rulers; and as taxpayer, the source of all funding for the concerted political power grab that strips us of our dignity and our liberties]
The ideology of our government is largely "progressive," liberal, and Left. You can tell, because the government has become a champion of group politics; the individual grows less and less significant as time goes on.... And his right to be "left alone" by the government has been virtually extinguished.
It's a pretty grim picture. The only way I can imagine America could ever be restored to her roots would be as the result of an absolutely devastating national emergency that paralyzes the government and the economy. Assuming we could survive that, perhaps we'd rediscover the virtues of individual initiative, self-reliance, honesty, hard work, accountability, etc., and be able to start all over again....
Short of that, soon America will resemble the failed states of Europe -- or worse, the failed states of the Middle East.
And all because we have forgotten our Founders and their beliefs, which are the spirit of the federal Constitution they framed: a novus ordo seclorum -- a new order for the ages.
My two cents, FWIW. Thanks for writing, tpaine!
Very good. I noticed that when you remove God from the hierarchy, something else floats to the top.
Extremely rational arguments. Thank you tremendously for sharing your thoughts here. I agree: America was great because she was founded "under God" - even if nowhere in our founding documents will one find those particular words.
Question to the board: If my rights do not come from God, where do they come from?
Statement of Fact: My individual rights do come from God and are unalienable by man individually or corporately. Rights can be violated, but not taken away. To my last breath I am a free agent, because there is One God, One Lawgiver, One Judge, amen.
PS - I pray the Lord will grant that I may write a customer review at Amazon for you one of these days, ladies, if you would still like for me to try my hand at that.