I cannot tell you how many times I have heard that in regards to what is happening in the world today.
I understand the Constitution, but do we really need to carry guns in every public place?
I understand the Constitution, but you cannot preach politics from the pulpit or you’ll be in violation of your tax exempt status.
I understand the Constitution, but we need more money to make sure we give the everyone equal opportunities to get an education…
or a job
or a home
or…
The moment I hear this phrase, my very first thought is:
No, you do not understand the Constitution. If you did, there would be no “but” in your statement.
The second thought is, we have a lot of work to do to save our nation from the decline and fall Roman-style.
It’s not understanding the Constitution if you have to add a caveat or a cop out or an excuse for whatever government decision you are wanting to make.
Before you move a boundary line, you better be absolutely sure you understand why that boundary was placed to begin with.
The Constitution — the main body of the document — is 4,543 words. It is wholly useless without an understanding of the Declaration of Independence and the Founding Fathers’ original intent.
The Bill of Rights is 463 words long and cannot be fully understood or defended without a strong knowledge of the Judeo-Christian God and at least an intermediate understanding of the Bible. Emphasis on the Old Testament Judaic law and the New Testament teachings of Jesus.
The Declaration of Independence is the WHY of America. The Constitution is the HOW of American government. The Bill of Rights is a written covenant, an agreement between the government and the people that our God-given rights are untouchable by man-made government. They are not an addendum to the laws and loopholes our government abuses and uses against the people.
The Bill of Rights is not, contrary to popular opinion today, rights granted by man-made government. No matter how benevolent our government makes itself out to be, no government on earth has the power to grant human rights. That is the jurisdiction of the God of the Universe and that is why there is such strong language in the Bill of Rights warning the federal government away from legislating these rights.
Shall not be infringed…
Congress shall make no law…
Shall not be violated…
Shall not be required…nor imposed…nor inflicted…
The AI answer when I asked about the Bill of Rights stated that they were added as specific guarantees of personal freedoms and rights.
Wrong. They are not guarantees because to guarantee something is to assume you have the authority to do so.
The only authority government has been granted is this:
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Not guarantee.
Secure.
Protect. Defend. Restrain itself from attempting, by force, to take what is not the government’s to give.
Our second amendment states that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
That is not because a few people might want to hunt to put food on their tables. The Founders had not just had an all-boys weekend hunting trip when they laid down this amendment. They had just fought a war and were well aware that establishing a new government to be large enough to protect its people and its sovereign borders could also grow too big for its britches. They understood that a government, in order to enslave a people, would first remove the peoples’ ability to defend themselves.
The right to keep and bear arms is fundamental to the laws of Nature and Nature’s God. The right to defend oneself, one’s property, and one’s family and friends is directly connected to our individual worth as God’s created image-bearers. Human life is sacred and worth defending and protecting from conception to natural death.
The right to worship God in our own way — or as many people say now, the right to not worship God — is a fundamental right given by God. For every human He created, God gave them each a unique and intimate way of communing with Him. Both establishing a religion and freely expressing that communion with God was established in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve walked daily with God. It is called our right of conscience and once again, man-made government has no authority or jurisdiction over said right.
That said, there are many “rights” today that have been bandied about as the government has become more entangled in the idea that their job is to guarantee and grant rights.
I do not have a right to not be offended.
I do not have a right to get married to whomever I want, whenever I want, however I want.
I do not have a right to encroach on other people’s rights.
I do not have a right to any job I want no matter how ill-qualified I am.
I do not have a right to have my self-made debt paid off by hard-working Americans who pay taxes.
I do not have the right to cross our national borders from other countries without obeying the laws of the land and following the proper procedure to become a citizen.
I do not have a right to force others to agree with my chosen life-style, especially if it directly contradicts my adherence to God’s laws.
I do have the right to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.
I also have the solemn responsibility that is attached to those rights to not abuse them or others in the pursuit of them.
My rights end where another person’s rights begin.
And our rights began the moment we were fearfully and wonderfully created in the Image of God, in our mother’s womb.
So do not tell me you “understand the Constitution but“…when you are talking about human rights.
There is no but.
