Augmented Post

Sometimes I have more to say. From a previous post:

A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor and bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.  Thomas Jefferson 

Sorry Tom.

The Founding Fathers failed. They would agree, I'm sure, if they could come back and see the loss of individual Liberty since their time. I used to think that the U.S. Constitution was flawed and if we could find and fix that flaw further erosion would be prevented. I have since come to believe the Constitution to be utterly magnificent in it's concept and simplicity. Trying to fix minor flaws would never result in a "perfect" document where no one was able to find some kind of loophole.  They did not fail when formulating or writing the Constitution. Their concepts of individual liberty, self reliance and property are just as perfect today as they were then. The concept that government is the servant of the people and that the only true function of government is to protect the liberty of the individual was a revolutionary idea which is made concrete by the Constitution. This was not a failure - it was a supreme success for mankind.

The failure of the Founding Fathers was not in how their new government was formed. Their failure was not providing a morality which was matching in it's perfection and a true complement to the governmental system they provided.

The moral principles of then (and today) are derived from a Christian ethic. These moral principles are in direct contradiction to the governmental principles embodied in the Constitution. Christianity tells us we are sinners - were born sinners - must repent our sins regularly and made amends for them; The Constitution tells us we are good and do not deserve punishment unless we are found guilty (the Judiciary); Christianity tells us the highest moral good we can do is to help our fellow man - to seek personal reward is a sin; The Constitution tells us we are free to make our own lives better. Christianity tells us to give; The Constitution tells us to trade. Christianity tells us to be subservient; The Constitution tells us we are masters of our lives. Christianity is anti-capitalism; The Constitution is pro-capitalism.


So if the Founding Fathers had set out to embody pure Christian ethics in their new government what would they have come up with? A Monarchy or a Theocracy or a Theocratic Monarchy. If they had truly believed in that, there would have been no need to revolt; the Declaration of Independence would never have been written because that is what they had. They knew it was wrong, they just didn't know why. This was their failure.


So the choice is yours. Do you believe in the Common Good or do you believe in Individual Liberty? If your moral ethic does not match your political ethic you will get neither. You will be bewildered. 


Could the Founders have avoided their failure? Probably not, because they did not have the tools or the understanding. To challenge or change the moral ethic of a people is a gargantuan task compared to changing a political system. I commend them for what they did. I think it is up to us to do what they could not.