The morning constitutional or morning constitution, as I heard it, was a common phrase of my childhood. Literally, the morning constitutional was a brisk morning walk to get the blood flowing. But then the phrase became associated with the day's first bowel movement because that involved a morning walk. By the time the phrase got to me, it included the indoor trip as well as an outdoor one.
The Constitution, or The Constitution of the United States of America, is neither a morning walk or a bowel movement, but an important document in American history and in American politics today. The document was signed on September 17, 1987 eleven years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In a nutshell the document established the government, fundamental laws and guaranteed basic rights for all US citizens. Specifically, the first two amendments, are all the Constitution most Americans are familiar with. And they generally are only familiar with what they hear and have never read them for themselves.
The first amendment, commonly known as The Establishment Clause, states that "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances." Because these 45 words mean different things to different people, it has been up to Congress and the Supreme Court to interpret and to enforce this law.
The amendment appears to protect the religious freedoms of all Americans of all religions. The amendment not only protects the church from the state, but the state from the church as well. Regardless of what the words appear to say to me and what the courts have mostly concluded, in today's political discourse there are many religious leaders and politicians who say, "America was founded on the Bible and Christian principles, the Establishment Clause only protects Christians and nobody else". Erecting monuments of the Ten Commandments in public courthouses such as Montgomery, Alabama and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma has been particularly troublesome. To protest this intrusion recently an atheist group in Oklahoma petitioned the courts and won the right to erect their own monument beside The Ten Commandments. The courthouse decided to remove their monument. Another group, The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, became a satire religious group to make the same point. These members have recently won the right to wear colanders on their heads in official documents such as driver's license photos and to perform weddings. To date the courts continue to say "Yes, you too are protected by the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States". If the Congress and the Supreme Court move further toward the religious right, these freedoms may be drastically redefined.
Dare we even delve into the second amendment? Yes, let's do. This amendment simply reads, "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Whatever the founding fathers intended, keep in mind that although the country had enough of a fighting force to win a war, they did not have the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, the Coast Guard and the National Guard. They did not have state patrols, county deputies, and city police. They did not have automatic rifles and semi-automatic rifles. They did not have Stealth fighters, attack helicopters, jump jets, tanks, drones, long-range nuclear ballistic missiles, and hundreds of other weapons of mass destruction. To the founding fathers, a militia was probably a good idea.Today, unless you are honestly concerned that US Military is going to invade your town and take all your guns, a militia is probably not all that necessary. This issue is playing out in Harney County, Oregon even as we speak. Nobody knows how this unlawful occupation is going to end, but it doesn't look like it's going to end well for anyone. It's not going well for anyone to begin with. The leaders of the militia are saying that they are exercising their first and second amendment rights to occupy the wildlife preserve. They believe that they have more right to be there than anyone else--Federal, state or local. We'll see.
But what most people know of "my second amendment rights" is that "the Constitution protects my right to buy and own guns". And it does. But does it protect your right to own a few equivalents of AK-47s? Does it protect your right to carry a gun with you to school, to church and to Walmart? Does it protect your right to take matters into your own armed hands if the situation calls for it? Have you read the statistics of the number of people killed as intruders each year versus the number of children killed accidentally with their parents' and grandparents' legal firearms? This is an argument for Congress, the courts, the federal, state and local police, and the NRA, it is not for me. But if you're asking for my opinion, I think you can catch my drift.
Many of us in grade school were required to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution which begins "We the People of the United States." Regardless of our differences, in our homes, in our work and our play, in our churches and synagogues and mosques, we all have so much in common. If we found those things and celebrated those things maybe we wouldn't need so many laws. Maybe we wouldn't need so many courts. Maybe we wouldn't need so many guns. And no matter what our religious and political stripes, we all begin our day together in the same way-- with our morning constitution. If only we could live out our days in mutual understanding and peace.
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