A more perfect Union

While grandpa and I were sitting out on the porch one eve, he in his rocking chair and me in mine next to him I asked him this question:

“Grandpa, what does it mean when we say we should uphold the Constitution?”

he opened his eyes, looked at me then sat there rocking a bit more before giving me this answer;

“Boy, that is a toughie to answer. Basically it means that we should look to the Constitution to determine what government is allowed to do or not do. But there are those who believe that it also is a determinant of what society is allowed to do also. This is the result of political ideology. And people will interpret the Constitution so as to see it as supporting their ideology. And this results in what I call an ideological Constitution.

What I mean by this is, is that they are using the Constitution to uphold their ideology rather than possessing an ideology that upholds the Constitution. From this they feel they have the authority to form a more perfect society, as they believe a perfect society should be. The problem with this is that it divides a society rather than uniting it. And in dividing a society it creates a less perfect society rather than a more perfect one.

After we won our independence from England the thirteen colonies were no longer just colonies but sovereign independent states with the power an authority as any other nation. It was the recognition of their own weakness and vulnerabilities that inspired them to unite as one thus making them stronger. But they wanted to do it in such a manner that would not deprive themselves of their newly gained freedom or sovereignty. So, they made a pact with each other to unite for the purpose of common interests. Self-defense was the main reason for this pact. Thus they united under a pact called the Articles of Confederation.

With this pact all thirteen states agreed that an attack on one state was an attack on every state. This pact also created a central government that was meant to address any issues of common interests. Each state sent representatives that would present the viewpoints of their own state on any matter brought up. While ideally it could have been said to be the perfect union of states, in practice the ideas were flawed. And the Constitution that we have today is nothing but The Articles of Confederation rewritten so as to address these flaws thus forming a more perfect union. And because of the uniqueness of how it was written it can be declared we have rewritten that Constitution 17 more times since then.

So, boy, when we talk of upholding the Constitution we are speaking not in terms of society but in terms of the pact that the states agreed to in the formation of this great nation. In other words our individual ideology should be dependent upon the Constitution and the intent of the Constitution. And the intent of the Constitution was to form a more perfect union of states not a more perfect society.”

With that said he went back to closing his eyes once more and started slowly rocking once more. And I quietly did the same.