"We The People"

    "'We the people.' These are the first words of the United States Constitution.  'We the people'...do ordain and establish this Constitution of the United States of America."  Those aren't just pretty words.   They are a clear statement of the origin of all authority and power in this country.  This government by the people derives it's power from the people -- power flows from the bottom up, not from the top down. 
    The Constitution is not a document whereby an all-powerful government grants certain rights and privileges to its citizens.  No, it's the other way around.  The Constitution is a document whereby the citizens of the United States grant certain authorities and powers to the government.  'We the people' aren't passive recipients of rights granted in the Constitution; "We the people" are the actors, the initiators in this exchange.
    At least, we're supposed to be.  The truth is, 'We the people' have grown quite passive when it comes to our relationship to the government that we empower.  As a nation, we have grown quite ignorant of how and why our government works.  And in our ignorance and passivity, we have surrendered too many rights and freedoms to our government.
    George Nicholas, a hero of the War for American Independence, found it hard to imagine a scenario in which free Americans would allow their governments to abuse the powers that the people granted to it in the Constitution.  He said, 'An enlightened people will never suffer what was established for their security to be perverted into an act of tyranny.'
    However, when it comes to the Constitution, today's Americans could hardly be described as 'an enlightened people.'  As a result, we have been subjected to many acts of tyranny.  The goal of this course is to re-enlighten students, families, and patriotic Americans in order to stem the tide of tyranny in this country."
   

This was a direct quote from Michael Farris' "Constitutional Literacy: Workbook to the 25-part DVD series.   It was the preamble in the Introduction and wow did it hit home and reaffirm why I am taking this class this year!



"We the people.."  What does that mean to you?  For me, those words seem to bring unity between myself and the last three centuries of history and people in this country.  The people who have fought to preserve, protect and defend our Constitution and all it stands for.  It reminds me of the people, whether they held office, wrote newspapers, fought in the military or even just talked with their families and neighbors, of the importance of protecting their freedoms. - Taking on the responsibility to prepare the next generation to uphold, what our Founding Fathers put into place.  I am one of those people...and so are you!
"We the people..",  means exactly what it says...We the people have been given the responsibility to hold our government accountable.  We the people have been given the power and authority to make sure those people in office strive to protect, defend and preserve the Constitution...and if they don't, it is our responsibility to remove them from office and replace them with someone who will.  PERIOD.  Government has only been given so much authority and unfortunately it has become a monster that has taken on a lot of authority that has never been granted to it.

I just started this course in September through Apologia Academy and would highly recommend it to everyone.  You can watch the DVD's and do the workbook on your own or you can take the course through Apologia :)  But as Michael Farris stated..."'We the people' have grown quite passive when it comes to our relationship to the government we empower.' and we '...aren't passive recipients of rights granted in the Constitution;  'We the people' are the actors, the initiators in this exchange.  It is part of our God-given right, to protect, defend and preserve the Constitution...

Are we protecting, preserving and defending our constitution?