Maybe I’m crazy, but I suspect that most Americans either haven’t read the Constitution, or did it so long ago they can’t remember what it says. This doesn’t matter until politicians make claims about the Constitution, or the balance of power. If they are someone you trust, you rejoice. If not, you don’t. But do they properly understand the Constitution, or are they just doing some spin to score political points?
I thought it would be interesting to look at the Constitution (yes, I have read it recently). I’m not a “constitutional scholar”. I would be considered a more strict subscriptionist: it is not a living document, but is an expandable document due to the Amendments. I think the Constitution wanted to protect us from a large government (seen by the lack of the power to tax income until the 20th century).
What does the Constitution set out to do?
1. It begins with the people that make up the nation. The people ratified the document to perform a unique (at the time function), the union of states that tried to balance the unity of the nation and the independence of the states. The federal government was not seen as over-powering the rights of states. But that’s another story.
2. Establish Justice- to see that laws are fair, and enforced fairly. They had seen the abuse of power that often took place in Europe. They saw the wisdom of separating powers to different bodies.
3. Insure domestic tranquility, primarily through the power of the vote. When people have a say in government, they are fairly represented, there will be a fair degree of tranquility. People will not feel the need to throw off a despot, or have a coup.
4. Provide for the common defense- to protect the union of states from foreign enemies. This is one of those areas when all have a responsibility to all the rest. If Florida were to be invaded the rest of the nation would not have to decide if they wanted to help. They had bound themselves beforehand to protect one another. A standing army is a way to do this. Today, it would seem to be the only way to do it.
5. Promote the general welfare- this is the slippiest of terms. I suspect that at some point we began to think it meant to guarantee the general welfare. Promotion of welfare is far different than guaranteeing it. Under the guise of promotion of the general welfare we have seen a proliferation of entitlements which seek to guarantee the general welfare. There were poor and needy people of all kinds in that young nation, yet they saw no need for the numerous entitlement programs that largely began with Roosevelt’s New Deal.
6. Secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity- they looked beyond themselves to future generations. Liberty comes with benefits- particularly the freedom of tyranny.
We probably need to remember that the Constitution will spell out most of these things. It will interpret them for us, rather than allowing us to read new rights into it. If we the people want to further define these things, we have the option of amending the document. In this way, the people are not tyrannized by either branch of government exceeding its responsibility and boundaries (or to quote a politician- provide oversight- to another branch, which would put them in a superior role rather than maintaining the balance of powers).
It bears reminding that this is a human document. It was put together by fallible people. It is meant to be “by the people and for the people.” It is a fallible document, and may require fixing from time to time. As with the repeal of Prohibition, we can also realize our additions are really problematic. We are not stuck with an Amendment forever (we could change how we tax people, for instance).
As a Christian, my ultimate allegience is not to the U.S. Constitition. I recognize two things. First, from Romans 13 that all government has been instituted by God, and His providence controls who is actually in power (for our good or ill). Second, in Revelation the Enemy often uses the State to persecute God’s people. No earthly nation is to be confused with God’s people. Some of God’s people are in nearly every nation and people group. But not all of them affirm the rights of those poeple to worship freely. The Enemy wants people to worship the State as if it were God. As a result, at time we may need to practice civil disobedience: refusing to obey unjust & immoral laws peacably, and willingly accepting the consequences by an unjust state. Those are not laws we merely do not like, but ones that violate our conscience, binding us to perform unjust & immoral acts.
Cavman Considers 
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