Today, September 17, is Constitution Day. The Constitutional Convention concluded on this date in 1787 in Philadelphia with the signing of that document, and it was then sent to the 13 states for ratification. (It was ratified in June 1788.)
On and around this Constitution Day, many Americans, including many of us here in Southwest Virginia, are experiencing mixed emotions that may include feeling disconcerted, fearful, angry, or even a deep sense of foreboding. After the assassination of a 31-year-old conservative activist and free speech advocate, Charlie Kirk, there is a sense that we have crossed a line.
While the nation was still reeling from news of the assassination, a flood of vile messages was posted to social media to one degree or another, condoning, excusing, or even celebrating the murder. Now, some leftists are openly calling for the murder of other conservative voices, such as this threat against Andy Ngo. (For years, the left has claimed conservatives are “homophobic” and “anti-immigrant,” but Ngo, whose speech in Richmond was profiled here, is both an open homosexual and the son of immigrants. For lunacy, it seems consistency and reason are optional.)
The Left seldom celebrates the US Constitution, but more often denigrates it. However, some have been using (I’d sayabusing) that document’s First Amendment for their violent comments, claiming “free speech.” Yes, the First Amendment does guarantee free speech, but within limits. Famously, no one can just yell “fire!” in a theater and say it was free speech. The same goes for making violent threats. Also, the Constitution does not guarantee anyone a job. Sure, you have the freedom to say or write most anything you want to, but employers also have a right to maintain an orderly workplace and defend their public reputation, and if that means discharging errant employees, they may.
As a country, many of us feel we have lost our way. But we need to remember, when lost, that is the time to look at the map. (Or in today’s parlance, refresh the map app.) Either way, when you’ve lost your way, that’s no time to be making good time. Instead, get reoriented and get your bearings again.
As Americans, our “map,” our guidebook, is our Constitution. But does the Constitution and the government system it sets up offer us all the protections we need?
Let’s take a word from one of the Founding Fathers himself, John Adams, who was both the first vice president and second president of the USA.
“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice [greed], ambition, revenge, or gallantry would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution is designed only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for any other.”
Note what Adams is warning: our Constitution won’t work for just anybody. The people involved have to be both (gulp) moral and (gasp!) religious.
Simply put, when people have a moral and religious framework that helps them control themselves, they don’t need a strong government to control them.
But when a critical mass of a population can not control itself, other voices clamor for order, and a dictatorial government steps in to restore order with the stomp of a boot, and freedom is crushed. Just as a net cannot contain a whale, a democratic government cannot contain an out-of-control population.
On September 3, US Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) caused gasps in the Capitol and across the nation when he claimed: “The notion that rights don’t come from laws and don’t come from the government, but come from the Creator — that’s what the Iranian government believes.”
The Declaration of Independence, written in 1776 by Thomas Jefferson, states that our rights come from our Creator. Sen. Kaine was wrong, and comparing the US Founding Fathers to the ayatollahs of Iran is a mockery.
On this Constitution Day 2025, let us all take a new look at our national “map” and aim to be the kind of people who can keep liberty going for future generations.
Scott Dreyer
