Posted on 08/28/2003 8:55:06 AM PDT by truthandlife
A unique online course gives Christian students the opportunity to study the original intent of the Constitution and to compare and contrast that to decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The online course, called "Constitutional Law for Christian Students," is taught by Dr. Mike Farris, president of Patrick Henry College in Virginia. Farris says his aim is for students to understand both what America's founders intended and what he calls the current "mess" found in the nation's courts.
Farris says regrettably few Americans today are well-versed in even the basics of the legal restrictions and guarantees provided in the U.S. Constitution -- and that includes many of those trained in the law.
"I would say the vast majority of American citizens, including the vast majority of lawyers, are deficient in understanding constitutional law. I was once a bar examiner for Washington State, grading students on the constitutional law question, and I was amazed at the number of new lawyers who didn't understand some very basic principles," Farris says.
"Constitutional Law for Christian Students" is designed to explore what the United States is supposed to be like in its governance, Farris explains. While the course is primarily geared to homeschoolers aged 15 and older, the instructor says it is open to anyone who wants to learn more about America's most important legal document.
"The Constitution gives us a mandatory blueprint for how the nation is supposed to be governed, and we have strayed so far from that," he says.
Farris is hoping his course will help to create a "farm club" of leaders who will eventually rise to the highest levels of leadership in America. He hopes some of those who take the course will go on to influence the nation socially, legally, and politically.
"What it takes to get back to right principles of thinking starts with having a group of leaders who understand the truth and [have] the ability to take the truth and go from where we are to where we should be," Farris says.
Students can register for the 18-week course by visiting the website of the Home School Legal Defense Association.
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