What is being forgotten or intentionally overlooked is what
the Founders were trying to accomplish.
What were they seeking when they created our Constitution?
One mistake that seems to be popular today is to claim that
our Constitution is based on the Bible.
The other side says that is not so.
Our opinion? Neither
side has it right. They, like most
readers, automatically inject their own ideas into the words they read. They “interpret” the words in order to have
them support their prejudices or what they would like them to say or mean. Such an approach invariably leads to a
“mis-interpretation” or “mis-understanding” of what the Founders sought. It attempts a contemporary explanation rather
than an appreciation of the words themselves.
Let’s be specific.
The Founders sought to create a civil government managed by self-governing individuals. Note the emphasis on self-governing. They didn’t attempt to create a “Kingdom of
God”, witness the fact that the word “God” does not appear in the text. The reference to the date of execution is
stated as “in the year of our Lord”.
While the Founders were religious individuals, they had
witnessed and knew enough of the problems created by a mandated national
religion (the Church of England) and the Catholic Church to want no part of
such dictated worship. Thus, the oft
misunderstood “establishment” clause.
The words state quite simply that the federal government cannot
establish a national religion. The
Amendment further states that you cannot be “prohibit[ed] the free exercise
thereof.” Any problems understanding
that? You are, by right, able to
practice your religion as your conscience dictates, anywhere and at any time, no
government interference.
Believing as strongly as they did, they injected for the
Senators and Representatives that “no religious Test shall ever be required as
a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”
The few words included in the Constitution state quite
clearly and conclusively that religion is not to be a consideration of the
federal government.
The Founders were creating a civil government. Thus no
mention of “God” or religious involvement.
In their minds there was no need to since they obviously did not want
other influences injected in the management of the government they sought to
create. They had witnessed the failings
of a weak and poorly structured “alliance” in the Articles of Confederation. They learned from their earlier mistakes and
sought a government that would incorporate the 13 fiercely independent
sovereign colonies (states) in a federal union that could face the world on
equal terms. The result was a document
simple, yet comprehensive enough to embrace the problems of a rapidly growing
nation.
In structuring the federal
government, they included only those powers they considered absolutely necessary
for the protection of the individual citizens, their property and the integrity
of the United States as a nation. That’s
why there are only 17 listed in Art. I, Sec. 8.
The 18th item concerns Congress and its power to write laws
for the implementation of the powers defined.
The reader should review Amendments IX and X to appreciate the fact that
it was truly a limited federal government being established.
That’s my view, what’s yours? Reach me at constitutionviews@gmail.com ©Copyright 2014 Hillard
W. Welch
