In Support of the Founders

In the last couple of weeks both the Constitution and the Founding Fathers have come under attack. It hasn’t been a subtle attack either. It has been right out in the open. Here are a couple of examples: 

Fareed Zakaria, CNN host and self described confidant of President Obama, recently stated that the Constitution was old and dusty and needed to be updated. How should we update it? Just like Iceland and take suggestions from Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. 

Time Magazines July 4^th issue asked on the cover, is the Constitution still relevant? 

During ABCs July 4^th weekend coverage, John Donavan made the below statement in a piece on the Constitution and the Founding Fathers.

“The reality is that the framers – posed in paintings as though frozen on an American Olympus – they were not gods, they were guys – guys who didn’t give women the vote and let slavery stand for the time being and who, by the way, were trying to create at the time a stronger central government, of course not too strong, leaving to us a Constitution that we could fix, as needed, – sorry, make that amend – which we’ve now done 27 times.”

The United States Constitution is the longest standing governing document in the history of mankind. That has to account for quite a bit. The founders examined every republic and every governing document written in history up to that point. They also analyzed all the governing documents currently in place throughout the world at that time. None of those documents came close to measuring up to what they wanted to accomplish. The Founders truly wanted a system where man could truly rule himself and take charge of his own life. The Declaration of Independence wasn’t just a rejection of British rule; it was a rejection of all governments that rule over their people.

While most countries average a revolution or replacement of their governing documents every 40 years, we have been blessed to have a longstanding peaceful society for over 200 years. It is an example of what can happen when man’s freedom of choice is truly unleashed. Look at all the advancements that have been made since the Constitution was ratified and the improved in the living conditions of man.

The Constitution is and will always be relevant. The Founders created a document that would survive. Yes, the Constitution does allow for an amendment process. The Founders knew that they couldn’t cover every possible thing in the Constitution and also knew that there needed to be a window to correct some of the things that started out in the Constitution that they weren’t able to initially hammer out or mutually agree on. They beauty of the amendment process is that it allows the scars to remain. You must make another amendment to repeal a previous one. This allows you to see the experimentation in this Great Experiment.

In regards to slavery, several of the founders were abolitionist. They put things in place to weaken slavery so it could one day be eliminated. This was genius on their part as slavery was still a major piece of the southern states economies and would take time to bring down without imploding those economies. Many people feel this should have been outlawed from the get go. The founders realized that without all of the colonies coming together the nation would not work. It would leave to much opportunity for jealousies to create multiple conflicts between the states. They needed to ensure a union of all 13 of the states. 

Article 1 of the Constitution contains the provisions that weakened slavery.

Section 9 allowed slaves to be imported only until 1808. After that they could not be imported. Up until that time, a tax of $10 per individual was charged. $10 was a hefty price at that time and worked to dissuade people from importing new slaves.

Section 2 contains the 3/5ths clause which some people point out as a sign of prejudice by the founders. This clause had nothing to do with the value of an individual. It had to do with representation in the House of Representatives. The abolitionist Founders knew that if the southern states held a huge majority in the House that slavery could never be ended. By setting the representatives of total slave population as 3/5 of the total it lowered the representation of the south in the House to a point that the non-slave states could keep a majority in the House and work to end slavery.

Frederick Douglas originally spoke out against the 3/5 clause saying, “I am not 3/5 of a man.” He later retracted that statement declaring that when he finally read the Constitution he realized the genius of the founders in ensuring that the non-slave states held a majority in the House.

In regards to women having the vote, women did have the right to vote in America even before the revolution. The requirement to qualify for voting was that you had to be a property owner. There were some women who inherited property from their husbands and did vote in elections.

What is the source of individual rights?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
–          Declaration of Independence 

There are a lot of us that have read these words. There are even some of us that can quote this particular phrase. How many of us have actually sat down and taken the time to think about and evaluate this phrase? 

The portion of this phrase that I would like to focus on is “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”. How many of us actually understand this phrase? It is such a small portion but holds such profound truth. Our rights come from our Creator. They come from God. If you truly understand that then you also understand that we lend the government a small portion of our rights to do the limited things we have asked them to do. This means that we do not get our rights from the government or through legislation, we get them from God. They come from Him directly to us. Why is this important? It is important to understand that we are given the rights and freedom to decide our own destiny. To understand that not only can those basic rights we have been given by our Creator not be legislated away but that man cannot legislate new rights. 

 “We hold from God the gift which includes all others. This gift is life—physical, intellectual, and moral life. But life cannot maintain itself alone. The Creator of life has entrusted us with the responsibility of preserving, developing, and perfecting it. In order that we may accomplish this, He has provided us with a collection of marvelous faculties. And He has put us in the midst of a variety of natural resources. By the application of our faculties to these natural resources we convert them into products, and use them. The process is necessary in order that life my run its appointed course. 

“Life, faculties, production – in other words, individuality, liberty, property – this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it. 

“Life, liberty, and property do not exist because men have made laws. On the contrary, it was the fact that life, liberty, and property existed beforehand that caused men to make laws [for their protection] in the first place.”
–          Frederic Bastiat 

When you understand that your rights come directly from God it gives a magnificent power. It gives you the strength and courage to press forward and blaze your own path. You will not end up sitting around waiting for somebody else to come up with a solution to problems. You will solve problems yourself. This applies not only to the personal problems you experience but even those of your family and neighborhood. 

We as a people need to get beyond the point of “oh the government will just come in and fix this.” That is not what God has intended. He wants us to take the rights and abilities He has given us to solve the problems ourselves. When disaster strikes, we should turn to our neighbors and ask where we can help. We need to help each other out as individuals and not wait for the possibility of somebody else to swoop in and make it all better. 

I leave you with this question. How can the knowledge of where our rights truly come from create not only a personal impact but a community impact as well?

Do small individual acts of charity have a positive impact on our communities?

Dictionary.com defines charity as the following: 

1. Generous actions or donations to aid the poor, ill, or helpless: to devote one’s life to charity
2. Something given to a person or persons in need; alms: She asked for work, not charity.
3. A charitable act or work 

As we think of charity, I believe that most of us envision that first definition. I believe that it goes much further and can be more along the lines of the third definition. We can perform enough charitable acts that it starts to become a part of our character. I believe this character trait of charity is engrained in most Americans. We are continually recognized as the most charitable nation on earth and I believe it comes from this foundation. 

Charity does not have to be something super complicated. The New Testament defines charity as the pure love of Christ. Taking that simple definition, even for those not of a Christian faith, one can simply exercise it as a love and concern for their fellow man. The simplest way to be charitable is by simple acts of kindness in your own home. My wife likes the fact that on our website I mention doing the dishes. It can be spending a few extra minutes with your kids, sending a kind note or email to a family member in the middle of the day, the possibilities are endless. 

From our homes we can move out to our streets and neighborhoods. You can bring in the trash cans for your neighbors. Help somebody in the neighborhood with a project. As we perform acts of charity starting from our homes and spreading into our neighborhoods we start to have a positive effect on those we come in contact with. At times in my life when I have focused on being more charitable I have felt happier and more upbeat. So much so that those I came in contact with me noticed a positive change in my persona. 

Through our church, there is a special event being sponsored in August. A community yard sale is being organized. This however is not your typical yard sale. It is not designated to raise funds for a cause or anything like that. Everyone in the community, not just church members, is being encouraged to bring items they do not need or don’t use on Friday. Everything will be organized and then on Saturday the community is being invited back to see if there is anything they can use and just have it. I am excited because it is an opportunity for the community to stand together and help each other out during tough times. 

Charity spreads like wildfire amongst not only those who contribute and perform charitable acts. It spreads amongst those on the receiving end as well. These individuals then see an opportunity to pay it forward, in whatever way that they can. 

Benjamin Franklin stated this as his creed, “That there is one God who made all things. That he governs the World by his Providence. That he ought to be worshipped by Adoration, Prayer and Thanksgiving. But that the most acceptable Service of God is doing good to Man.” 

Let us work together to strengthen ourselves, our families, and our communities through random acts of charity and kindness. As we do this we will strengthen our resolve to work hard and to contribute as individuals, lifting ourselves as we lift those around us.

Is Man Capable of Ruling Himself?

Is man capable of ruling himself? 

This is a question that has been wrestled with since the beginning of time. Man has always yearned to be the master of his own destiny and to control his own life. There have been shining moments where certain groups in the human family have had freedom to do this, or at least a portion of it. The history of the House of Israel is riddled with the back and forth of having freedom, being conquered and enslaved, and having portions of freedom. The Greeks are recognized as having brought about democracy. The biggest issue with a democracy is that it turns into mob rule. Once the people find out they can vote themselves the treasury of the kingdom it is all downhill. 

Now, the Romans, they were sort of on the right track for a while. They started out as a Republic. However, through graft, corruption, lack of a moral compass, and a growing sense of entitlement; they were slowly converted into an Empire in the middle of the night while the people weren’t paying attention. As they focused on “bread and circuses” the freedoms they did enjoy were slowly taken away while a pretense of the old Republic was kept in place. 

When the Founding Fathers of our nation were attempting to figure out what type of government would work best as they drafted the Constitution, they reviewed every type of government structure that the world had record of. The Founders shared a great knowledge of history, economics, and politics. Although they all had been educated in different ways, they were all students of many of the great writers. The Founders were looking for a formula that would provide man the maximum amount of freedom without dipping into complete anarchy. The result was a Constitutional Republic that gave the national government just enough power to provide for things the states needed mutually such as the national defense and ensuring that others did not have their rights trampled. However, very limited powers were given to the government as the founders knew that man was best left to blaze his own path through life and to rule himself. 

One of the things that the Founders recognized was that man must have a moral compass. They knew that morality was best left to the churches. If the people strayed from being a moral and self regulated people, their plan would not stand the test of time. They did however have faith in the people and firmly believed that man is capable of ruling himself. 

The counter point or opposing view of all of this would be that of the progressives. They have always believed that the Founders got it wrong and that man is either too selfish or too stupid to rule himself. This is the slow path and view that has been growing in our nation since the late 19^th century. They felt that man needed to be lead by “experts” who were educated in the proper universities and could see the path that history was heading towards and guide man in the proper direction. 

For a more in depth comparison of these two viewpoints, click here. 

What does our question have to do with the individual? This has everything to do with the individual. In order for individuals to be empowered with the belief that they can work hard for what they do and bless their own lives and the lives of others in the process; they have to believe that they are capable of ruling themselves. There needs to be an environment that allows us as individuals to blaze our own path. To learn from our successes and failures and to move on and grow there needs to be an environment that allows us to figure out the best path and not be boxed in by excessive regulations or control.  

The greatest gift given by God to man is his agency, the ability to choose for himself. If God believes that we should be left to determine our own path and destiny, shouldn’t we ensure that our national and local governments permit us the same?