Since it's been disregarded for so long by Congress, just what are we now?
The Constitution: The Gift that Keeps on Giving
Wisconsin Family Voice – Julaine Appling – 9/17/2013
The Constitutional
Convention really was all about the kind of government this new nation would
have for generations to come. The men who represented the 12 colonies
that attended –all the original colonies except Rhode Island sent delegates—knew that they
faced yet another defining moment in the young country’s history.
As the summer wore on, they
knew they had to get it right. Too much was at stake. So they
stayed. On September 17, 1787, the Constitution was signed by a majority of the
delegates.
And, now 226 years later,
their original words still form the bulk of the rule of law in this country.
Their gift to future generations is truly a gift that keeps on
giving—providing a framework for governing a country for generations, unlike
any other document before or since has done or is doing.
At 4400 words, it’s both the
oldest and the shortest constitution of any major government in the world.
The word democracy does not
appear once in the Constitution, but the word republic does as the framers and
signers made sure Article IV guarantees to every state a Republican form of
government.
In 2004, Congress officially
proclaimed September 17 of each year as “Constitution Day.” The primary
purpose of such a proclamation was to force schools to teach about this
founding document. A majority of Congress apparently recognized that most
Americans have no clue about this one-of-a-kind document and set out to require
that public schools and actually any school that receives federal funding, deal
with it once a year. I would not leave the teaching about the
Constitution just to the school.
It’s not primarily up to the
public schools or any school for that matter to teach the generations that are
the recipients of this gift from our founders about the gift. It’s
ultimately up to parents to make sure their children know about the
Constitution.
It’s time for all of us to
read the seven articles and the 27 amendments—and to understand them—and to
hold our elected officials accountable to passing laws that comport with the
Constitution—and hold judges accountable for accurately interpreting the
Constitution instead of making it up new as they go along, seeking to support
their own personal political agendas.
If we had as much concern
for the future and future generations as our Founding Fathers did, we wouldn’t
need a Congressionally mandated Constitution Day to remind us of this founding
governing document. We’d be carrying well-worn pocket copies with us and
making sure we are protecting the gift that keeps on giving for those coming
behind us.
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