Constitutional Victims?

The prosecuted in the Trayvon Miller said yesterday that she did not want Trayvon's family to be "constitutional victims". What does that mean? Just what is a constitutional victim? It gives me the impression that the Constitution is some sort of enemy that inflicts harm upon people, and then those people get classified as victims of it. Maybe that is not what she meant, but that is how it struck me. I also think that there are way too many folks in our country, including our President, who do feel that the Constitution is some sort of burden on our society and it ought to be ignored.
There is so much at stake in the next election. The Constitution is at risk. Can we let our basic framework of government be marginalized? Should we allow people that do not cherish the Constitution to be in the control of our country? I pray that we don't.

An Anti-Constitutional President

Now our President is warning the Supreme Court justices that they should not become "activists". Is this the same President whose Department of Justice has stopped several states from implementing laws which they passed? Does this mean that this President is also upset with the 9th Circuit Court for overturning California's Proposition 8?
What the President is really saying is that he is not a big fan of our Constitution. What he's saying is that the Constitution puts limitations on his plans for our country that he does not like.
One thing that should result from the Obamacare discussion is that Americans should become more aware of the importance of having a President that is going to choose justices that will be true to the Constitution. This President is the one who will REALLY choose "activist" judges, ones who ignore the Constitution in order to further a political agenda. America should not allow this. We need a new President.

SCOTUS Questions

• Will the justices use ONLY the US Constitution to reach their decision?
• Do justices have to read an entire bill before they decide?
• Liberals say they are offended by this bill being called Obamacare.  Are they ashamed of it?  (By the way, I think they should be more ashamed of it being called the Affordable Care Act.)
• If Obamacare remains, what is the chance that it will be repealed?
• Should the SCOTUS consider public opinion in deciding?

In my opinion, if Obamacare is upheld, it will NOT be because they found it constitutional, but that they found it to be "despite-constitiutional".  Despite what the Constitution says, they would still declare it acceptable.

Judicial Jeopardy

   One thing that I have not heard much about during this election cycle is the potential of naming new members to the Supreme Court.  If just one conservative judge is replaced by a liberal one, it will tip the balance toward judicial activism.  This is an enormously dangerous situation.  When our country is needing to return to Constitutional principles, we cannot afford to have judges who do not look just to the US Constitution when making judgments.  Right now, we already have one judge who has said she would not suggest other countries to use our Constitution as a good example to follow.  We also have judges who go to legal precedents which are made in foreign countries because they do not think our Constitution is good enough.
    We certainly should consider this issue when going to the voting booth in November.  We can already see what attitude President Obama has concerning justice.  His attorney general is an example of the kind of leadership he would like to have concerning justice.  The two justices which have already been named by President Obama are activist judges.  If we want to return our country to remain a Constitutional republic, we must have a new President.  There are some who claim that we already are not a Constitutional republic.  I tend to agree.

Self-esteem vs. Original Sin in America

   There are basically two viewpoints concerning the nature of man.  One is that man is basically good, and the other is that man is born a sinner.  Most Christian denominations believe in the concept of original sin, acknowledging that man is not only born in sin, but conceived in sin.  This means that man is in need of a Savior.  I happen to think that most, if not all, of the framers of our Constitution believed in original sin, and that is the concept behind their insistence on devising a Constitution which limited the government and divided its powers.
   I think one of the things that has happened in America during the last several decades is that our education system has moved from a system that recognized children as inherently sinful to one which believes that children are basically good.  This change took place as the doctrines of secular humanism were successfully introduced into our government schools.  Even as I taught in the Lutheran school system, I began hearing about how parents and teachers ought to be primarily concerned about a child's self-esteem.  It sounded good to begin with, but it evolved into practices which refuse to acknowledge that children are doing things wrong because it was not desirable to harm someone's self-esteem.  I also think this change occurred at the same time as the insistence that God be taken out of our schools.  With God (and also sin) not being permitted in a school's conversation, the focus turned to telling children that they were basically good.
   Now our country is full of people who have experienced this kind of education, and I believe it has had a harmful effect on our culture and on our government.  I see this problem rearing its ugly head in the form of politicians who want to ignore the restraints of the Constitution.  I see the problem rearing its ugly head in movements such as the Occupy Movement.  I see the problem rearing its ugly head when people think they are entitled to the help of a bigger government.  I see the problem possibly getting worse because now politicians can use a "feel good" message to get elected, when in fact what we really need in our country right now is a message that we have messed up and need to change our ways.  We need the government to return to one which IS restrained by the Constitution. 
   Our country has changed from one where people recognized the importance of serving others to one where people expect others to serve them.  Now so many expect the government to serve them.  This too is a result of how we are educating our children in the government schools.  Parents need to take more responsibility for teaching their children that they are sinners. Grandparents, too, must take a larger role in teaching our children and grandchildren about their relationship with God.  
   More Americans need to turn to a God who esteemed us so much that He sent us Jesus to solve our sin problem.  More Americans need to read their Bibles, where they find out that they are in need of that Savior because of their sinfulness.  More Americans need to recognize that God knows what is best for them, and He has described that God-pleasing lifestyle in the Scriptures.  And more people need to recognize the wisdom that went into the framing of our government when the Constitution was developed. 
   When our nation returns to God, it will also recognize how important the Constitution is in enabling a successful government to exist despite the fact that it takes sinners to run it.
  
  

What Is Being Taught?

I wonder what students in America are learning about the US Constitution. Are students taught that the framers thought it very important to make sure the Federal government was limited in its scope and power? Are they taught about the balance of powers between the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government? Are they being taught that the states and the people were to retain powers that were not granted specifically to the Federal government? Or are they taught that the US Constitution is no longer relevant today? it seems to me that they are taught that rights are granted to people by a benevolent government, not by God? It seems to me that they are taught that the Constitution is what is holding us back as a country. It seems to me that they are being taught that Americans should expect an equality of results as opposed to an equality of opportunities. It seems to me they are being taught that the government is supposed to provide for all the needs of people. It seems to be taught that the bigger the Federal government is, the better it is.
If we do not get back to instilling in our young ones a respect for our Founding Documents, we can expect our nation to continue down the road to ruin.

Two Documents under Attack in America

 Without these two documents, America is doomed.  Let's honor and defend them both.

US Constitution Limitations

  I heard a so-called expert on the Constitution say today that it is an outdated document because it does not relate to today's realities.  He went on to say that the Constitution was flawed because it did not contain articles which related to issues such as entitlements and healthcare. 
  I would first of all say that the great thing about the Constitution is its limitations.  It LIMITS the reach of the Federal government.  That is what it was intended to do.  The framers of the Constitution wanted to make sure the Federal government did not become too powerful.
  But I take you back to the gentleman's comment.  Does his comment not indicate that many of the things which our country has established over the years are NOT constitutional..  I do not think he intended to do so, but I think he admitted that we have strayed far away from the Constitution over the years.  I agree.