Happy birthday to the Bill of Rights, ratified Dec. 15, 1791.
I have a copy of the Bill of Rights on my office wall and carry a pocket version in my bag. I refer to it frequently to assess how well it is weathering current attacks against it. I am especially fond of the First Amendment and its guarantees of free speech and free exercise of religion. My U.S. government career and life experience uniquely qualify me to appreciate the Founding Fathers and the documents they authored.
I have visited 50 countries for study, work, and pleasure, and have dealt with most of the world’s 190 countries. None of them has a Constitution that has endured this long and protected the rights of so many. The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Yet, unelected officials (judges, bureaucrats, and others) have greatly undermined the free exercise of religion, allegedly in the interest of civil rights.
Members of Congress and the Southern Poverty Law Center favor the restriction of free speech in the interest of “civility.” Students in Ivy League colleges have signed petitions to repeal the First Amendment. Social media algorithms already limit free speech and promote the viewpoints of their creators. The Second Amendment is attacked every time a mentally impaired person commits a crime with a gun.
Technology and national security considerations have de facto repealed the Fourth Amendment. The Tenth Amendment is out of fashion in progressive circles. In other words, the USA is increasingly descending to the level of a banana republic, where special interests rule the majority.
When asked what type of country the Founding Fathers gave the people, Ben Franklin answered, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”
Apparently, many teachers, professors, bureaucrats, and others have decided that this Republic is not worth keeping. We must happily march to a socialist paradise as modeled by the defunct USSR and Nordic countries with crushing taxation rates. China is a great socialist success, but not so great in the freedom and privacy departments.
President George H.W. Bush wanted a kinder, gentler nation. We are far from it because on crucial issues we have rule via court order, instead of legislative process. Judges are appointed, not elected. In Europe, abortion was legalized via referendum, or parliamentary vote, not a court order. Thus, there are no anti-abortion protests.
Do you know how it feels to survive two coups d’etat and to live in a dictatorship? I will tell you next year. I close with another quote from Ben Franklin, “Those who sacrifice freedom for the sake of security deserve neither freedom, nor security.”
Jane E. Bardon PhD
Primary Trustee, Bill of Rights
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