About every six months or so… maybe eight months. I read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights (both are kinda procedural and a little boring in places).
I also read the Declaration of Independence.
It’s a little less boring, but it’s mostly just saying to the King of England (who was the head of the Church of England too) “hey buddy… you’re not the boss of me”.
As an American, these documents – to me – transcend everything. They are THE DOCUMENTS that we always need to come back to. They are smart. They are well thought out and they apply to EVERYONE.
You can read them here.
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs
In essence, we Americans have made a pact that you can be any race, religion, you can speak your mind, you can be what you want, but we’ve – ALL – agreed that THE CONSTITUTION is the thing that binds us.
We’ve also all agreed that the RULE OF LAW matters and that we will work WITHIN that system (created by the Constitution) to solve our differences.
We – ARE – bound together as neighbors, through our churches, even family. Still, our agreement to give up a little bit of our freedom (meaning we can’t just do anything we want AND we can’t impose our religious beliefs on others) so that EVERYONE gets to live their own version of this American idea.
To me this is a really beautiful thing.
I agree to NOT use the government to impose my religion on YOU and you agree to NOT use the government to impose your religion on me. It’s literally – THE – first amendment to the constitution (which would probably NOT have been passed had the framers not agreed to later add these amendments).
So here’s the one that sets the template… and it’s why our form of government is different from almost all of the ones that came before…
Article 1 – 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.
Man… that’s good stuff!
NO law respecting an establishment of religion… You get to do your thing and I get to do my thing.
See how great that is?
Pretty great huh?
I think I’ll go read it again.
I am proud to be an American… and I approve this message. 🙂
