America’s Freedom From the Chains of the Constitution
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Let me ask you a question. What value does the Constitution of the United States of America have? I’m not talking about its intended value. It’s intended value is tremendous. Thomas Jefferson said of it, “In questions of power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution.”
Jefferson had a great fear that government would become completely arbitrary and consequently tyrannical. He had witnessed far too much tyranny in his life and even his good friend, John Adams, had a bit of an authoritarian impulse. He trusted nobody in power. He studied history. He knew how Rome’s republic was destroyed when its rulers began to ignore its constitution. He also knew America was no less prone to make the same mistake. I would say his fears were well founded.
A couple of hundred years later, here we are. Yeah, we hear the Constitution brought up in political rhetoric once in awhile, but usually only the parts which suit that particular candidate or party in the moment. For instance, we heard the political right in this country screaming about the unconstitutionality of Obama’s health care reforms but hardly a peep when it comes to the Iraq War or warrant-less wiretapping. I could make the same point about the American left as well.
I think most of us can agree on two basic points when it comes to the Constitution. One, its original purpose was a just purpose. The Constitution was intended to bind those in power so they could never overreach their authority or trample the rights of the people in this country. Two, the Constitution is dead. It’s on life support at best. Can we agree on that?
Do you think the federal government has the power to control the delivery of health care? Do you think the Department of Treasury should pump three trillion dollars into failed banks without a single vote in Congress? Do you think federal agencies should read private emails or listen to private phone calls without warrants? These are just three examples of recent unconstitutional acts by our government and we’ve let each of them slide. In every instance, a great number of people have actually supported these actions.
Can we all agree the Constitution was a good idea but has ultimately failed us? I might get flack for saying that but it has. Does it really matter anymore if something is constitutional or not? Can we even make that argument after more than a century of trespassing the Constitution? It should go without saying the U.S. Constitution has proven inadequate to the task of preventing our federal officials from behaving arbitrarily.
To borrow Jefferson’s metaphor, the federal government has clearly broken free from the chains of the Constitution. So, what exactly is left to tether the government? We pretty much rely on voters to do that but the power of the voters is not that much power at all. Basically, government officials are only limited by their own prudence–they are only limited by what they think they can get away with.
So, the Constitution is dead. That’s my grand conclusion on the matter. The question then becomes what do we do about it? Now, the popular response is we need to elect people into office who are willing to uphold the Constitution. But I see one fundamental problem with that so-called solution. The reason the Constitution hasn’t been working is because as long as certain people have the power to make the rules in this country and enforce those rules, no Constitution can bind them.
Think about it. Here sits the Constitution which is the supreme law of the land. It’s not just loose guidelines for government to go by. It’s the law. But the very body of people obligated to follow that law–the ones the Constitution was written for–are the very ones in charge. They have the power to write whatever new laws they want and to enforce them. The power to legislate and the power of law enforcement and even the military is in their hands. The only additional branch of government charged with the responsibility of holding the President and the lawmakers subject to the Constitution is the judicial branch and they themselves are ignoring the Constitution. They have that liberty because there’s no one to hold them accountable.
Anyone who thinks a written constitution such as ours can be anything but a temporary restraint on the government is mistaken. The only way to eliminate an abuse of power is to take away that power. Let me throw a wild idea at you. Let’s remove the ability of our federal government to legislate. Let’s remove the President’s ability to dictate. Finally, let’s remove judicial powers beyond deciding individual cases–as opposed to legislating from the bench or interpreting law based on political ideologies.
I know, it’s crazy, right? Here’s what I propose we do though. We begin with a very simple Constitution. It basically contains every law we will ever need to protect the fundamental rights of the people including life, liberty, and property. That’s it. We won’t have lawmakers so the Constitution can never be changed. We’ll also eliminate law enforcement. You can’t abuse power when you don’t have the ability to enforce arbitrary rules. As for the President, we don’t need him. We might call temporary military leaders into service from time to time when they are absolutely needed, but otherwise Commander in Chief will not be a position we need.
Are you trying to picture what the nation would be like? It’s kind of hard to do because we’ve never seen that amount of freedom. Well, we can argue the logistics of it, but I know it works because it has worked. This was the system of ancient Israel in the Bible. I tell you what I’m going to do. I’m going to link in the show notes to a website which has extensive material on the subject. It’s the only one I’ve found quite like it. It explains in detail the kind of government and society Israel had after their exodus out of Egypt. I strongly encourage you to read it. It will blow your mind. (Link: http://kingwatch.co.nz/Law_government.htm)
I do believe there is such a thing as an ideal government and I believe Israel had it. Of course, Israel eventually traded in their perfect government for a monarch. It was much like the way the United States has destroyed a perfectly good Constitutional republic for the power-hungry, war-mongering nanny state we have now. In Israel’s case though, it was the people who rose up in favor of changing the system. In our case, the government has for the most part taken that power without our consent. But ultimately what the Founders built allowed that to happen. No offense, Founding Fathers. You did good but you could have done even better.
Going back to the issue of the Constitution, what do we about its destruction? There’s virtually nothing that can be done. Human nature is what it is. The propensity of governments is what it is. Even if we engaged in a revolution and introduced a new Constitution, it will only be a matter of time before it is also trampled by those in power. As unrealistic as it is, we could even adopt Israel’s form of government–which was hardly a government at all–but we’d be in the same boat. It would only be a matter of time before we elect to hand over our power to some authority or another.
I know it sounds utterly pessimistic, but this perspective I have on things is actually more of a blessing than a burden. Do you know how much time I used to spend watching and reading the news just a couple of years ago? I had my eye on the news all day long, every day. Do you know how much time I spend following the news now? Hardly any. I still keep my eye on the news some and I talk politics and I find it to be fascinating. But I also realize it’s all beyond my control. Men will wax worse and worse. I’m not suggesting we all give up and hand the last bit of power over to tyrants. I’m merely talking about changing your perspective.
I believe this was the subject of episode 60 of this podcast, but what this country needs is not better politicians or better laws. We need more godliness. We need more righteousness. That’s not something that’s going to begin in Washington. It’s going to start in our churches and our local communities. As we the people become more righteous everything else will begin falling into place.
You’ll notice in the New Testament of the Bible, Christ and His apostles didn’t spend too much time inciting us to engage in political movements. Instead, we are taught how to live our individual lives. Their message concerning the government was for us to put up with whatever government we have and focus on our own discipleship and the Lord’s church. Paul said, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.” He wasn’t endorsing the Roman government. He was telling us not to focus on the government. Why? I believe it’s because the success of a nation does not stem from the government. It stems from the virtue of the people.
“Expired Constitution | 072 Coffee & Cigarettes” Transcript
About The Author
Jeremy Sarber
I'm the pastor of one of the most blessed churches in all the world. I'm married to the most wonderful woman to walk the face of the earth. I'm host of possibly the most unconventional podcast on the Internet. I am thankful because I deserve none of it. Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Email
[...] read about the relevance of the Constitution in today’s society, visit Jeremy Sarber’s excellent piece on the issue. We might say that these interventions are justified, but that certainly [...]