Religion and Politics
Monday, August 17th, 2009Back when my son was in Scouting, I taught multiple merit badges for the Troop, including all three Citizenship merit badge. Citizenship in the Nation required them to read and discuss the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
I found this great shirt pocket sized book from the Cato Institute that had both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. I bought them in bulk and gave each Scout in my class a copy. Then I told there would be a quiz in the next class, and there was.
Now the Cato Institute is a Libertarian think tank, and being in the Peoples’ Commonwealth of Massachusetts, I tried to find an opposing view. So I went to the ACLU‘s website and tried to find a similar publication. What I could not find at the ACLU website was the Constitution of the United States of America, the fundamental legal document of the nation.
That is when it dawned on me, the ACLU is like the old Roman Catholic Church. They wanted the Mass in Latin and the Bible printed in Latin, with only the Priests knowing how to speak and read Latin. They didn’t want the Laity knowing what the Word of God was, the Church only wanted them to know what the Church said the word of God was.
The Libertarians are like that rabble rousing Martin Luther, who had the radical idea of printing the Bible in languages that the Laity could read. Let them read it and see what it really says.
The Libertarians feel that the US Constitution is a remarkable document, that clearly lists what the functions of Government are and just as importantly, what are not the functions of the federal government. It’s all there, written in clear English. They want the Citizens to read it, understand it and know how it is supposed to effect their daily lives.
The far left, which includes most Congressional democrats (who are not “liberals” in the classic sense), don’t want American citizens to read the Constitution. They want to tell you what it means, and don’t want you raising questions about their interpreation have nothing to do with the words written in the actual document.
Personally, I think you should read it, and ask just why the leftists are so afraid of you doing so.