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| Constitution in plain English - No Interpretation Necessary |
There are several different Oaths which our Constitution or other U. S. law requires in different situations. I would like for us to take a look at some of these Oaths:
Oath of Citizenship
"I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God."
Oath of Office for U. S. Senators
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God."
Oath of Military Enlistment
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." (Title 10, US Code; Act of 5 May 1960 replacing the wording first adopted in 1789, with amendment effective 5 October 1962).
Presidential Oath of Office
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. So help me God." ("So Help Me God" is optional and at the discretion of the President.)Everyone, from the newest citizen to the lowly private and on up to the President of the United States takes an oath to "support and defend" the Constitution of the United States. The problem here is that people born in the U. S., who are not in the military or serving in public office, take no oath of allegiance. Shouldn't there be an implied oath for the rest of us?
Instead of seeing the Constitution as the "supreme law of the land", we sometimes look at it as just a suggestion and if we don't agree with it, we put our own spin on it.
A perfect example is "freedom of speech" and boy, have we made a mess of this one.
Amendment I to our Constitution says, in part: "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech,".If anyone thinks that this Amendment gives us the right to say or do anything we please, the next time the President is in your town, try parking your Honda in front of the Presidential motorcade and see what happens.
How can anyone who is a rational person see "freedom of speech" as a right to burn our American flag?
The origin of the "Pledge of Allegiance" dates back to the late 1800s and significant changes have been made since that time. Probably the most significant change was made by the U. S. Congress in 1954, when it added the words "under God" to the Pledge. What was just an idea of a Baptist minister was now a patriotic oath, as well as, a public prayer.
Here is the Pledge after 1954:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands: one Nation under God, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all."Normally civilians, when reciting this Pledge, remove their hats and place their right hand over their heart, while military personnel face the flag and render a military salute.
The American flag has been our nation's symbol of strength and unity for over 200 years and has been a source of pride for millions of U. S. Citizens. It is actually an icon in our nation's history. What do the colors of the American flag symbolize? The color "red" represents hardiness and valor, the "white" symbolizes purity and innocence, and the "blue" is a symbol of vigilance, perseverance and justice.
It is true that we have no federal law requiring us to respect our flag, but if we intend to enjoy the freedoms it represents, shouldn't we voluntarily have some respect for it? Remember, we have no law saying that we must love our country either.
Men and women are dying in order that we might be able to display that symbol of freedom and some of us just need to wake up.
So what is "allegiance"? According to dictionary.com allegiance means:
1. the loyalty of a citizen to his or her government or of a subject to his or her sovereign.
2. loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like.In the same dictionary "treason" is defined this way:
1. the offense of acting to overthrow one's government or to harm or kill its sovereign.
2. a violation of allegiance to one's sovereign or to one's stateTreason is any attempt to overthrow the government or impair the well-being of a state to which one owes allegiance; the crime of giving aid or comfort to the enemies of one's government.
Let's look at this realistically. When the government of one of our enemies witnesses U. S. citizens stomping on, burning or desecrating our American flag, do you think that it might just send them a message as to where our weaknesses are and that this country is not as "united" as we would have them believe? Do you think that some might even question the strength of our government in condoning it? Where does "freedom of speech" end and "treason" or "disloyalty" begin?
If any of our citizens don't appreciate and respect our flag, they have every right to pledge allegiance to some other flag.
Let's move on to our "right to privacy", which was actually invented by our U. S. Supreme Court and just doesn't appear in our Constitution. The Fourth Amendment to our Constitution says:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."Our Supreme Court used this Amendment to justify a woman's right to kill her unborn baby. I have read this Amendment many times and I just can't, even in my imagination, see how this passage could be interpreted as giving anyone the "right" to kill anyone. What do you think?
Next, we need to look at our "right to bear arms". Here is the Second Amendment to our Constitution:
"A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."Some of us seem to not realize that any "Amendment" to our Constitution is a further explanation or clarification of some other part of the Constitution. The Second Amendment amended other Constitution Articles, all of which pertained to the formation or control of a "militia".
For the most part, a "militia" in 1897 was the only means of protection and defense for the people. They had no sheriff's department or police force as we do today. We just don't need a "militia" today and we would probably be held on charges if we formed one. None the less, we have the right to "bear arms" for protection and self-defense.
What have we done with the Second Amendment? We choose to feel that the Second Amendment gives everyone the right to go deer hunting with an AK-47.
It is the people who create and change laws, either by voicing their opinions or by implied consent and we should not water down our Constitution each time some rouge attorney or judge is having a bad day.
When was the last time you personally wrote your state Senators and voiced your opinion on a major topic of concern? You see, one or two letters to a Senator are probably just thrown in the trash, but don't you think that 50,000 letters just might get someones attention?
Some have said that we should do away with lobbyists. I have no problem with that as long as the citizens of this country will take their places. Someone must tell Congress how to vote on issues and right now it's the lobbyists, who to me are only highly paid individuals who mainly represent the corporate world and not the average citizen.
One of the most important decisions a President will make is the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice. These Justices are nominated based on their views and opinions of certain issues and how they will interpret our Constitution to best support or not support the issue at hand. So when a decision is made, it is not necessarily what the Constitution says in words, but rather how the majority of the Justices interpret the words (their own personal opinions).
We need to research these Supreme Court nominees and write our state Senators and tell them what we like or don't like about the nominee.
A new Constitution is not an answer. After all, who would write it and how soon would we want to change it? The real answer is getting our citizens to understand that we do actually have some control over our government if we would only get involved and exercise that control. We elect our State Senators and we can also fire them and we need to let them know we understand that fact.
I realize there are other ideas and opinions on this topic. That's what makes this country so great. Please join me on LinkedIn and Google+.
As a freelance writer, I write on many other topics outside government and politics. If you need some help writing those high quality blog posts, you can get in touch over here. - Ken
