The U.S Constitution and We the People

Did the U.S. Constitution not establish a limited government in which the people ruled through their elected officials? Furthermore, under this form of government, did not America become the freest and greatest nation in history? Yet, as we celebrate America’s Independence Day, this 4th of July 2024, our constitutional system is one that increasingly exists in name only. The constitution of "We the People" is being replaced by an elite, out-of-touch, and unaccountable administrative state that rules without the consent of American citizens. This means we live in an era of growing bureaucratic despotism, manifested in an administrative state that bypasses the Constitution, rejects the separation of powers, and replaces the rule of law with regulations, and dare I say fiats. How pray tell, did we get from where we were in 1776 to where we find ourselves in 2024. Real history always tells the tale from the beginning to the end. Lest we forget, truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.  In the early years of our nation’ s founding Thomas Jefferson hit the nail on the head when he cautioned future generations with these words of wisdom: “Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant ancestors, and which our innocent posterity has a right to receive from us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we basely entail hereditary bondage on them.”

It has been said and reinforced by Historians and Statesmen alike that “All healthy societies are bound together, not by the power of a state and its military... but by the power of a culture.” In America’s case, our culture was a fusion of Enlightenment sources such as individualism, self-government, and especially the reformed traditions of Christianity. Consequently, this hybrid-Enlightenment was the source of political shared aims at the time of the founding. It worked because it was impenetrable to the power or faculty of sight that people could read their own tradition and communities into it. The result was a “practical morality” A similar, even if vague understanding of family life, the gender roles, work, civic decency, public responsibility, and the relative importance of faith and the practices that went along with it.” Today, however, diverging issues have fractured this moral consensus. Abortion, gender roles, sexuality, and the authority of religion became mainstream causes of public and political contention. Consequently, cultural opponents have largely stopped trying to legitimate their positions through an appeal to common American traditions of political philosophy. Rather, “the only thing that matters to each is defeating their opponents.” As a result, we are seeing a “narrative of injury” whereby an adversary is not a trustworthy opponent but an enemy. The result is a “shared cultural nihilism.” From what I have been seeing and or hearing via social media posts, MSM news accounts and group discussions as it relates to a “narrative of injury” is that we are presently there. To deny otherwise is irrational to the point of being absurd.  Today’s culture is “fundamentally oriented toward dehumanizing the opposition; it is fundamentally about a symbolic and cultural annihilation.” Is there hope for America and its cultural decay? If we see the immorality of our culture as an imperative summons to pray and work for moral and spiritual awakening there is hope.

In today’s political environment, if a serving or an aspiring politician could persuade every American citizen to accept all their political views, opinions, beliefs... it would not make those views, opinions, beliefs... correct. Nor would it change what is true. As President Ronald Reagan warned: "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.” To that end, we must remain vigilant, strong, ready, willing and faithful to both God and country. Unlike both Jefferson and Reagan, today’s President of the United States, his Administration, and many within the Legislative branch fall wide of the mark.