“Among my people, we carry many such words as this from many lands, many worlds. Many are equally good and are as well respected, but wherever we have gone, no words have said this thing of importance in quite this way. Look at these three words written larger than the rest, with a special pride never written before, or since, tall words proudly saying, “We the People” – that which you call Ee’d Plebnista, was not written for the chiefs or kings or the warriors or the rich or the powerful, but for all the people.” – Star Trek
This wasn’t my history book, but it wasn’t far off from what they taught us.
Weirdly, when I was a young child my teachers indoctrinated all of us in a love of country, a love of our institutions, and a love of our history. The lesson plan was simple – America was pretty cool, and most other countries were cool in their own way with their fake money and wooden shoes, but none of them could toss a man on the moon, since we found those particular Germans first. I remember being in kindergarten and wondering, “Why was I so lucky to be born in America?”
When I was growing up, there were only three channels of television, no VHS players (that Ma and Pa thought we needed). Every day when I got home – the same show was on television – Star Trek©. Consequently, I watched every episode. Seven hundred times, which explains my Captain Kirk reference above. One thing I noted was that whenever Kirk had to fight an omnipotent supercomputer, all he had to do was give it an impossible logic problem and it would catch fire. Really. Every time. Apparently artificial intelligence is extremely flammable.
Thankfully Kirk can read space American.
I’ve always loved the idea of the Constitution. Heck, Captain Kirk even read it to space Americans in one episode of Star Trek© after the space Americans beat the space Commies. Between well-deserved beatings (they did that regularly back then, at least to me) and episodes of Star Trek™ I did absorb enough of the school lessons to develop a great respect for the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights is that wonderful set of listed freedoms that became the first ten amendments to the Constitution. I won’t go through all of them, but first among them is this one:
Congress shall make no law respecting an 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.
As ideas go, this one is a doozy, and is split into three different but related concepts. This amendment doesn’t allow Congress to establish a religion even if everyone in Congress felt that Wildernetics© was a good idea and really improved your skin. At least Congress can’t stop people from exercising mainstream religions like Wildernetics™, or even a fringe religions like Christianity (unless of course you’re a Christian and refuse to make a cake for people who are engaged in something your religion disagrees with). Then your religion really isn’t important, just as the Founding Fathers intended.
The second bit is the idea that freedom of speech is protected. Except hate speech and speech on corporate media servers. Hate speech is criminal. And corporate media servers certainly can’t be made to hold ideas that would make the corporate owners uncomfortable (or unprofitable). And the press is likewise free, unless it’s Alex Jones. Then it should be shut down and should be smothered in the warm, loving embrace of lawsuits.
When I met The Mrs., she was a liberal because of freedom – she thought that party was the best one to support freedoms, which in her mind started with freedom of speech. I was a right-libertarian for the same reasons. Oddly, in 2019, the left is the strongest opponent of free speech while the right appears to be kinda in favor of speech, sometimes.
The right of the people to peaceably assemble has been long celebrated, as long as the ideas are popular and the proper permits have been received. If the ideas are unpopular, police protection can be lifted so violent mobs can make bad ideas go away. Again, just as the Founding Fathers intended. I love the idea of the Constitution, and I love the ideas in the First Amendment, but it seems to be treated like the police and courts as more of a suggestion than an actual protection if they don’t agree with the ideas being protected.
But I’ve been thinking a bit further: the Constitution is supposed to be a bulwark of protection for the freedom of Americans, but is it? Are there ideas that are so insidious that they are dangerous to the liberty that the Constitution is supposed to protect?
Our Constitution, however, is not a robot. But it’s also 230 years old, and people who like to control others have been working to subvert the Constitution just as long. But is the First Amendment the equivalent of a logic bomb? Are there ideas or religions that are incompatible with the very spirit of the Constitution and Western Civilization?
I know that sounds like another of Kirk’s logic bombs: are there ideas so intolerant that they can’t be tolerated? Once upon a time, I would have argued that the answer was no. The real reason is because in 1850 or 1950 or 1970 or even 1980, no one took the ideas of those who would use the Constitution to dismantle itself seriously.
Now the people who would dismantle the Constitution seem to be in Congress . . . where is Kirk when we need him?
The ACLU was founded and funded by the Communist party for this very purpose. As was the SPLC.
Using the instruments of governance to destroy the nation is not a new concept. It is the entire point of Critical Theory. Liberation Theology applied this concept in the conquest and destruction of the Christian churches.
The main problem with the Constitution is that it does not contain a penalty clause. There is no, “or else we will hang the offender(s) on the Statehouse lawn on Independence Day.”
Now that needs to be an amendment!
John – – You asked: “Are there ideas or religions that are incompatible with the very spirit of the Constitution and Western Civilization?”
Yes, there is a political cult that masquerades as a religion which is totally incompatible with our Constitution and Western Civilization. It is ISLAM. Moslem beliefs are enforced by Sharia which, if followed, would cancel the freedoms guaranteed by the Bil of Rights.
Islam, Marxism, institutional corruption, etc. There are any number of beliefs and systems that are incompatible with America. America became great by being different from everywhere else. If you bring in those stale old ideas and systems, you become everywhere else.
This is why our enemies attacked our culture, rather than our territory. Once the enemy is inside the hive, the bees have no defense instincts.
Well said – I wouldn’t change a syllable.
I only have a few brief moments to comment today…was it Thomas Jefferson that said “our form of government only works if moral values are exercised” (or *other* words to that effect) and yet, there is that concept that *power corrupts. absolute power corrupts absolutely* and i think this is what has been happening to our nation over the years.
*most* of us go about our daily lives, going to our jobs, contemplating whirled peas (dare i say – pursuing happiness?) and then there is the “ruling elite” that look down on us little people. I want to mis-quote Jefferson again (or was it John Adams? Ben Franklin?) “from time to time the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants alike…”
In the end, it really is about power, and those who lust for it. But that’s Friday’s post!!!!
That came to mind . . . oddly, the left loves the idea of sharia – perhaps because it divides us, or perhaps because they think it’s the name of an Amy Schumer comedy tour.
James Tiberius Kirk will not be born until 2233… but then again, perhaps he might pays us a visit any day now (like he briefly visited the Bay Area back in 1986?)
I think that he found the nuclear wessels he was looking for, along with his LDS friend . . .
One problem we have is that under First Amendment jurisprudence, “religion” is defined narrowly as belief systems in a higher being, and does not include “secular” religions like Communism, Global Warming, etc. We would be better off if we could have sued to stop our government from advancing these alternate religions.
Yes. I just had a conversation about just that (which may turn into a post) with my sons – communism and capitalism are both materialist systems, and communism explicitly excludes religion. Capitalism doesn’t, but tends to not need religion.
That leads to some of the outcomes we see . . .