Today most Americans seem to have forgotten the evils that forced their ancestors to flee to this country. The colonists wanted to form a government that allowed all men to be free. Fundamentally, this was the freedom to obey their conscience. They had lived for years under governments that did not acknowledge the rights of commoners. Instead those governments demanded absolute allegiance to the king and his church. Matters of religion and conscience were not considered personal or private by those in power. The religion of the ruler was the religion of the people…or else! 

For most rulers, religion was an effective tool of control over, if possible, even the minds of men. When religion failed to suppress men’s thoughts, and they actually dared to speak something new, cruel persecutions quickly came. It was viewed as necessary to keep everyone in their place. If faith wouldn’t do it, fear would. So, rulers used the common people as pawns in their own power struggles. Religion became the justification for many of history’s most cruel, barbaric wars. 

Even in New England prior to 1787 (when the Constitution was written) people were persecuted for their religious beliefs. Women had been convicted and sentenced to death as witches. These were the infamous Salem Witch Trials. A generation before, Quakers had lost their lives for their faith in Massachusetts. Different sects were still being persecuted as late as the American Revolution. This happened in the colonies of Virginia and Massachusetts where church and state were united. In those states there was no freedom of religion. In colonies where there was religious freedom, such as Rhode Island, there was no persecution. 

Americans in the Revolution were ready for something new. They set out to design a civil government more radical than any in history. It would guarantee the rights of the individual. They stated emphatically that government was not the creator of those rights, but rather charged with protecting them. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.Declaration of Independence

Those rights came from the Creator. These men and women saw that freedom of conscience was a person’s most valuable possession. These men discovered something amazing. Since all men had an inalienable right (one that cannot be taken away) to live in obedience to their consciences, an entire society had the chance to find true freedom and true emancipation. They knew that those who lived by their consciences would be the guiding light of the nation. With the formation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, America held out a promise of a new society to the whole world. It was to be fresh, equal, just, open, free, and forever respectful of the human conscience.

The Constitution and the Bill of Rights were the charter documents of this nation. They were designed to be written limitations on government’s power. This was the clear and stated intention of the Founding Fathers in writing them.

It was James Madison, the Father of the Constitution, who realized, perhaps more than anyone else in his time, that the people were sovereign. The officials, those the people elected, were merely the servants of the people. Their most important service was to protect the individual rights of the people. As the principle author of the United States Constitution, we must give him credit for the moving words of its preamble:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Madison saw that if these documents were to be anything but sugar-coated promises, they must be absolutely binding. Further, the courts must enforce these written guarantees. They would do so by not allowing any government action against an individual that violates his inalienable rights. These rights are eloquently listed in the Bill of Rights. 

The framers of the Constitution gave this document the authority to command. They could because it was by the consent of the people that this Constitution came into power. By it, all citizens of the republic could be governed. This absolute standard was written in plain English so that it could be understood by common people. They wanted and needed a binding law that could not be lightly changed. Its meaning was and is so clear to anyone who takes the time to study it. 

This document would not need “experts” to interpret its meaning. It commands what government can and cannot do. It is the ultimate standard in defining boundaries of government in this country. So, the Constitution and Bill of Rights were designed to be limitations of the government’s power over the people. 

“If you can keep it”

Ultimately, the real power of these guarantees would depend upon the moral fabric of the whole nation. The people’s constitution must match the nation’s Constitution! This is essential to preserving the rights of all men. As soon as people lose their willingness to take moral responsibility for their actions, tyranny and oppression arise. If the people do not have self-control, governments must provide it no matter the cost. 

The process has been slow and gradual, like the famous parable, “Frog Stew.” As the “frog” (society) is stewed, glaring violations of the people’s rights are not even noticed. Should the schools educate America’s youth about their rights when the government no longer upholds them, and in fact actively and openly violates them? 

Working hand in hand with this moral decline, and also contributing to it, is compulsory education. Through what is taught, how it is taught, and what is not taught, public schools have effectively removed basic understanding of what inalienable rights are. Don’t believe this? Consider the keen observation of former Supreme Court Justice, William O. Douglas. It was written several generations ago:

We Americans seem to assume that all of us are born with knowledge of the Bill of Rights and with insight into its mysteries. Most school boards, however, could not pass an examination on it. Neither could most parent-teacher associations. Most of our teachers would fail. Yet knowledge of man’s rights against government, the restraints on police, the place of the church in society, should be known to all youth counselors if the upcoming generation is to be raised with a knowledge of the Free Society.

We have assumed that everyone will acquire this basic knowledge by an osmosis that comes from living here. Yet, one has only to read the press to realize how remote from basic constitutional issues the editors are. They sound an alarm when a non-conformist is loose on campus; they administer a sedative when a crime is “solved” by the use of the third degree method, or a man is imprisoned for his beliefs… One has only to read the press and listen to public conversations to realize that few community leaders have ever been briefed on the Bill of Rights.

We are more and more informed by worldwide press coverage; yet we have lost some of our spirit of inquiry and challenge. We walk more and more in unison as if some mysterious force was herding us, a free people, in the manner in which the people of Russia and China are herded. The same docile attitude seems to have possessed most colleges and universities, most of the foundations, most of the press.

What about today? Do the American people know any more about free government in the 2020’s than they did in the 1960’s? It would seem that fewer care now than before. Lawyers and judges are proving to be some of the most desensitized to the true spirit of justice. At least in the 60’s there was an intellectual and social outrage against injustice. Where has that voice gone? It cannot be heard by those who ignore their conscience. Compromise is the word of the hour. 

The Essential Freedom is the Freedom of Religion

In 1787, when the Continental Congress assembled to draft the Constitution, religious freedom had long been under attack. Madison himself was a man with deep convictions concerning religious freedom. In 1783 he wrote: 

The right of conscience is in itself an inalienable right. What is here a right toward men is a duty to the Creator. 

He believed that in matters of religion, no man’s right is to be violated (abridged) by civil government, and that religion is wholly exempt from its jurisdiction. These men realized that the most essential freedom found is each man’s right to obey God by following his conscience. The first amendment to the Constitution is very clear in its intent to protect this right. It is written in simple, plain English so that no legal interpretation is necessary: 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. 

Madison also wrote concerning the nature of the first amendment:

“There is not a shadow of right in the general government to intermeddle with religion,” and, “This subject is, for the honor of America, perfectly free and unshackled. The government has no jurisdiction over it.”

These men were masters at saying just what they meant. These freedoms were not to be easily betrayed by the interpretation of any legislative body or court. The statements stand for themselves and are absolutely binding. 

There are impassioned defenders of liberty today, but they wield no great power. We read about men such as James Madison in our history classes, but somehow his vision, his zeal, and his spirit have disappeared from so many of our lives. What did America stand for originally? 

It is a sad but true fact of history, including American history, that when the majority ignore their conscience they also ignore the sufferings of others, particularly the sufferings of the minorities. As Justice Douglas wrote, no protest is raised at the oppression of those trying to live by their conscience. These are signs of the collapsing moral fabric of society.

The Constitution has reserved the greatest amount of power not for dignitaries, but for the people. It was designed to give the power of the government to the governed — “just plain, everyday people.” But the people have lost touch with the true essence of their republican form of government.

The New Puritans

Most of the once-cognitive ones have had their human voices slowly muffled and stifled and strangled. Success, reputation, money, pleasure, independence, etc., became their real goals. Amazingly, they became the “new Puritans” – much like their ancestors long ago.

The Puritans had sought “liberty” only for themselves in coming to America. They brought the whole apparatus of spiritual and political oppression with them from England – including its gruesome punishments. The only thing they “fled” from was not being in control. In New England they had control, and they used it to silence dissent and to enforce their way for men to seek for God.

Today’s Puritans are seldom religious, but they love to have control! They very “righteously” seek to deny liberty to those around them who disagree with their politics, beliefs, and lifestyles. 

Freedom of Religion

The freedom of religion and all that it represents –– freedom of thought, of association with like-minded individuals, the right to practice what one believes –– is the most essential freedom. Historically, it has been the most opposed. Opposition to it is rising today. There must be a people who stand upon their beliefs regardless of the consequences. If not, those who seek to control men’s beliefs will prevail. Such control has happened many times before, always resulting in violence and oppression. We who write this paper simply seek to stand on the ground our forefathers won for us at great cost, and the higher and holier ground our Master purchased for us with his own blood. 

We have found in this stand, in this faith, a meaning and a purpose for our lives. Our lives are in the hands of the God of Heaven. We look to no other. However, those who hear his voice in their conscience and uphold our freedom (and so everyone’s), are those who hear “his (God’s) secret council with the upright”. They will have their own, even eternal reward. ♣

“The sum of all is, if we would most truly enjoy the gift of Heaven, let us become a virtuous people; then shall we both deserve and enjoy it. While on the other hand, if we are universally vicious and debauched in our manners, though the form of our Constitution carries the face of the most exalted freedom, we shall in reality be the most abject slaves.” Samuel Adams