CONSTITUTION DAY, Have You Heard About It?

17 September 2007 is Constitution Day. It is the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the United States Constitution. Hopefully, this will be commemorated in our schools and our children will be taught the basic principles of our founding document. How much do we remember? I will save the Preamble and the Bill of Rights for another day. So let’s begin at the very beginning…

The First Article - Each of us is born into the world as a sovereign, independent being with certain rights simply because we are. Ask any two-year old who is loudly asserting that independence. So this Article concerns itself with setting for the rules by which the independent person is represented in the law making body – the House of Representatives. Secondly, it recognizes that States are nothing more than a gathering of independent persons within in a geographically defined area and that this group has common interests and goals that must be represented and so a Senate is formed.
The Second Article – The interests of the individual and the interests of a State may sometimes be at odds with one another, so an Executive is needed to coordinate, suggest, organize, and represent the United States in its relationship with foreign nations. We call him “The President”.
The Third Article – Because Man is a fallible being subject to pride, greed, etc. Legislation might be passed that infringed upon the natural rights of other Men. So a system of judges was established so that any who feel such infringement might appeal to a neutral body which could then decide if a law violated or upheld a right. It has no power to create rights. It can only protect them.
The Fourth Article – Here we find the principles that govern relationships between the States and the rules for becoming a State.
The Fifth Article – Recognizing that the Founding Fathers might not have forseen all future possibilities, an Amendment process is established by which changes may be made to the existing document, with specific limitations.
The Sixth Article – This Article addresses the existing debt of the previous colonial period government, sets the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the Land, requires that Senators, Representatives, members of the State Legislatures, including all executive and judicial officers (both State and Federal) to be bound by an oath or Affirmation to support this Constitution, and that NO RELIGIOUS TEST be ever required to hold an office or public trust under the United States.
The Seventh Article – Establishes the ratification process.

The whole Constitution fits on one large parchment document in the National Archives. It takes up eighteen pages in my pocketbook edition. It is easy to read. It is only the minds of designing Persons that manipulates it into something it is not. It is the best balance between the Natural Rights of Individuals and the government force unleashed to protect those rights. It is not a mandate to solve all spiritual, social, economic, and political woes. It is not a mandate to police the world or subdue naughty nations just because we are bigger or wealthier than anyone else. It is a mandate to respect each person in his or her sphere of life without interfering with the life, liberty, or property of anyone else. Get a copy at the library or online. Read it and enjoy! In this long, extended election season, I have only heard one candidate who speaks of restoring Constitutional integrity to our government. Can you name him?