Beware the anti-Constitutionalists, for they shall bend the
truth to suit themselves.
Our democracy is difficult. It requires us to let people
with whom we disagree rise up and scream ridiculous stuff we hate. Our
Constitution tells us that’s what we need to do. Our Constitution tells us that
no matter what your religious beliefs (or non-beliefs), we have to respect that
and our government needs to be free of religious encumbrances. Our Constitution
tells us “a militia” can have guns, but does that mean we can buy as many guns
as we want without any restrictions?
In today’s world, politicians love to throw around the
“Constitution,” as in Obama ignores the Constitution . . . or people talking
about background checks are violating our Constitution . . .
Sometimes, politicians who claim to embrace the Constitution
are the first to ignore it . . . Let’s ban Muslims . . . We’ve taken God out of
our government . . . Gay people should be executed, or a marriage is only
between a man and a woman . . . It’s OK to discriminate against people with
whom we disagree . . .
Right now . . . with the caucuses and primaries starting, we’re
hearing a lot of rhetoric, much of it hateful and spiteful and fearful, but not
much about how that talk is often at odds with our Constitution. I guess that
shows how fast some people are to embrace tough talk even if it violates our
basic rights.
Are we really willing to keep people from entering America
based on their religion? Do we really want to continually monitor and surveil places
of worship? Do you want your church constantly under surveillance? Again, we're talking about American citizens who happen to have a different faith than you have. Citizens . . . Citizens who should be protected from such intrusion and bigotry by our Constitution.
Turn it up a notch by saying that Mexicans entering the
country (illegally) are all murderers, rapists and criminals? What’s impact of saying that on Mexicans (or
other immigrants) here legally . . . or even U.S. citizens who came from other
lands? (Gee that sounds like most of us . . . though our ancestors got in
pretty much without restrictions.)
The right to bear arms? The Supreme Court has ruled that the
right belongs to individuals, while also ruling that the right is not unlimited
and does not prohibit all regulation of either firearms or similar
devices. State and local government are limited to the same extent as the federal
government from infringing this right per the incorporation of the Bill of
Rights. (Wiki)
In 1939, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal
government and the states could limit any weapon types not having a
"reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a
well-regulated militia.” (Wiki)
So any talk of “restrictions” on gun ownership as being “anti-Second
Amendment” just really isn’t true, but I’m guessing that most people who shout
about the Second Amendment haven’t read it or aren’t interested in finding out
more about it. It always sounds better just to shout stuff nowadays and see
what sticks. Fear sticks.
Our Constitution, in effect, tells us how to act as a
nation. Combined with our other chief historic documents, like the Bill of
Rights and the Declaration of Independence, we have a framework created by our
founding fathers for a new nation emerging from under the wing of a dominant
power. A power we rebelled against in our fight for independence that cost
thousands of lives. But we still managed to defeat and forge a new country.
Those documents don’t necessarily make things easier for us, and maybe with
some things in an ever-changing world, they make it tougher.
But we can’t afford to lose sight of the bigger picture.
Despite all the current political talk, we are a great nation because of our
Constitution and the people that forged it. We speak freely, worship as we
wish, elect people to represent us at every level of government, buy and sell
property and change jobs if we wish, and even manage, at least in theory, to
treat all people equally.
Some of that’s taking a beating now, and we’d best remember
that, too, since it’s easy to discriminate against things and people different
than we are, but we like to think nobody will ever treat us that way. Unless,
of course, we feel it’s in our best interest to claim we’re victims of one sort
or another.
It’s far from a perfect system and we have shown time and
time again that we are anything but a perfect people. We’re all in the same
boat, though, and while we sometimes like to think we’re special, everyone in
that boat matters, and we all do better when we’re rowing in the same direction
. . . as free, equal and thoughtful people willing to understand our history
and not throw it out the window when it becomes inconvenient.
No comments:
Post a Comment