From Gary E. Johnson
Monroe
To the editor:
Two recent letters caught my eye. One from Will Miller touting prayer in government, the other by Tom Brantmeier on the Second Amendment. Both were well written and I applaud especially the exact quote of the Second Amendment as one would be amazed by the number of people who argue that issue from either side who have never bothered to read it, or the entire Constitution and its 27 amendments for that matter.
Both of the aforementioned letters were written under the premise of the original thought and actions of the founding fathers. This is indeed worthy of study and consideration, but with the reminder that they were flawed in their own thoughts and process and they obviously knew it, else they would not have submitted the original 10 amendments to the document nor created a means to have it further amended by future generations.
Some of the thoughts of the original authors and signatories included the then-fact that a black man equaled only 3/5 of a man, and a woman was not included in the rights accorded to Americans.
The genius of our founding fathers was not in the words of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; the genius was in implementing a mechanism for the document to change with changing times. The foresight of that was indeed groundbreaking and up to that point in humanity had never before been seen in government.
Since the original writing, the Supreme Court has ruled on many issues, including gun ownership and the co-mingling of religion and government. We cannot only yield ourselves to a Constitutional society when we agree with the Constitution or its amendments or its interpretations. We cannot afford to champion freedom only when we agree with the viewpoint of those exercising said freedom. The only assurance that those who choose to express faith are free to do so is that those who choose to express faith differently or not at all have equal freedom.
I personally don't agree with past Supreme Court decisions on the Second Amendment, personally I think there are far too many guns in this country, but that's the way it goes. I personally don't get to have everything my way when choosing to live in such a society.
The Constitution, its amendments and its interpretive body weren't put in place to make us comfortable - they were put in place to make us free.
Monroe
To the editor:
Two recent letters caught my eye. One from Will Miller touting prayer in government, the other by Tom Brantmeier on the Second Amendment. Both were well written and I applaud especially the exact quote of the Second Amendment as one would be amazed by the number of people who argue that issue from either side who have never bothered to read it, or the entire Constitution and its 27 amendments for that matter.
Both of the aforementioned letters were written under the premise of the original thought and actions of the founding fathers. This is indeed worthy of study and consideration, but with the reminder that they were flawed in their own thoughts and process and they obviously knew it, else they would not have submitted the original 10 amendments to the document nor created a means to have it further amended by future generations.
Some of the thoughts of the original authors and signatories included the then-fact that a black man equaled only 3/5 of a man, and a woman was not included in the rights accorded to Americans.
The genius of our founding fathers was not in the words of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights; the genius was in implementing a mechanism for the document to change with changing times. The foresight of that was indeed groundbreaking and up to that point in humanity had never before been seen in government.
Since the original writing, the Supreme Court has ruled on many issues, including gun ownership and the co-mingling of religion and government. We cannot only yield ourselves to a Constitutional society when we agree with the Constitution or its amendments or its interpretations. We cannot afford to champion freedom only when we agree with the viewpoint of those exercising said freedom. The only assurance that those who choose to express faith are free to do so is that those who choose to express faith differently or not at all have equal freedom.
I personally don't agree with past Supreme Court decisions on the Second Amendment, personally I think there are far too many guns in this country, but that's the way it goes. I personally don't get to have everything my way when choosing to live in such a society.
The Constitution, its amendments and its interpretive body weren't put in place to make us comfortable - they were put in place to make us free.
