What happened to the Constitution?

The two major parties have forgotten the Constitution.

Following many, many years of studying American history, constitutional government and the Bible, I am convinced the United States Constitution is largely ignored these days. The Democrats and the Republicans have zero fidelity to that monumental document and the average American citizen is ignorant about what is actually in it.

The donkeys and the elephants have no intention of slowing down the out-of-control expansion of government. Neither party has demonstrated any loyalty to preserving and protecting our constitutional form of government or shows any real resolve when it comes to saving the lives of the unborn.

Like the National Socialists and the Soviet Socialists of old, the only thing that concerns Democrats and Republicans today is who is in power. Both are equally willing to destroy the freedoms and liberties of people without conscience or regret as long as their party remains in control.

For this reason, I have eliminated the Democrats from ANY consideration (theirs is the party of abortion and same-sex marriage) and have only limited interest in a FEW Republican politicians. I suspect I am not alone. God-fearing Americans across the country are seeing, more and more, the impotence and irrelevance of the major parties when it comes to representing constitutional principles.

With that in mind, I want to rip off Jeff Foxworthy and say, you might be a Constitutionalist if:

• You believe elected leaders should really obey the U.S. Constitution.
• You believe before the United States invades and occupies another country, Congress must first declare war.
• You believe the federal government should live within its means, like you and I must do.
• You believe taking away people’s liberties in the name of security is neither patriotic nor does it make the country more secure.
• You believe politicians should be forced to live under the same laws they force the rest of us to obey.
• You believe there are three co-equal branches of government and those branches are supposed to check and balance one another.
• You believe the federal government has no authority to be involved in education or law enforcement.
• You believe that gun control laws do nothing but aid and abet criminals while trampling the rights and freedoms of law abiding citizens.
• You believe the income tax is both unconstitutional and immoral, and, along with the IRS, should be abolished.
• You believe the federal government has no authority to tell a state Supreme Court Chief Justice he cannot display a monument containing the Ten Commandments in a state judicial building.
• You believe that neither Congress nor the White House nor any sovereign state is required to submit to unconstitutional Supreme Court rulings such as the Roe v. Wade decision.
• You believe that freedom has nothing in common with illegal immigration.
• You believe that outsourcing jobs overseas is not good for America.
• You believe that the United States should get out of the United Nations and should get the United Nations out of the United States.
• You believe it is not unconstitutional for children in public schools to pray or read the Bible.
• You believe the Boy Scouts are not a threat to America.
• You believe the federal government should ALWAYS honor its commitments to America’s veterans.
• You believe American troops should never serve under foreign commanders or wear the uniform or insignia of the United Nations.
• You believe the United States government has no business bribing churches and faith-based organizations with federal tax dollars through 501c3s.
• You believe federal agents who murder American citizens should be held to the same laws and punishments that any other citizen would be held to.
• You believe that NAFTA, GATT, the WTO and the FTAA are disastrous compromises of America’s national sovereignty and independence.
• You believe the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate should be required to actually read a bill before passing it into law.
• You believe it is the job of government to protect and secure God-given rights, not use its power to take those rights away.
• You believe there is nothing unconstitutional with public acknowledgement of God and our Christian heritage.
• You believe there is no “right” in the Constitution for a man to marry a man, a woman to marry a woman, an adult to marry a child, a man man to have multiple wives, a woman to have multiple husbands, or a human to marry an animal (or multiple animals).
• You believe that airport screeners have no business touching women’s breasts, groping men’s genitals and confiscating fingernail clippers.
• You believe that “zero-tolerance” policies in public schools are, for the most part, just plain stupid.
• You believe parents have a right to home school their kids without government interference.
• You believe government seizure of private property is simply thievery.
• You believe you would be hard pressed to meet someone in the U.S. House of Representatives or the Senate who acts as if he or she has ever read the U.S. Constitution.

Along with Biblical illiteracy, Constitutional illiteracy is the plague of our day. America has two major problems—ignorance and apathy. Many are ignorant about what the Bible and the Constitution say and many simply don’t care. That is always a sign of a declining culture. When ignorance and apathy take over, we get the leaders we deserve. When they are not held accountable, they run wild.

Maybe that explains a $17 trillion dollar debt. Maybe that explains repeated encroachments on the First and Second Amendments. Maybe that explains why people can’t tell you what is in the First and Second Amendments. Maybe that explains why people don’t care what is in the First and Second Amendments.

How did we get into such a mess? We got into this mess because we have become complacent. We have gotten fat and lazy because we have had it so good for so long. History shows, empires tend to implode. They rot from the inside. We are on track. The decay has set in.

Did you take the quiz? How did you do? Are you a Constitutionalist? If you are, I beg you, run for public office. Your country needs you.

Ed Baswell pastors The Clarion Church and is the host of Crossfire Radio, weekdays from 7-9 am, on The Promise, 90.7 FM. The show is streamed live worldwide at promisetalkradio.org and at ktbs.com. It can be seen each day on the KTBS 24-hour, digital news channel.