Why do conservatives have such an idealized conception of the US Constitution?

Question

as if to say, that the way it was in its original form is the best way for a country to govern, despite the fact that the founding fathers did not account for the reality of the 21st century, and as such, the way in which the country is governed should equally change to account for the changing conditions.

The founding fathers could not have conceptualized the weaponry of the 21st century. Would they have wanted the second amendment to be absolute, if they knew of the existence of nuclear weapons?

The Constitution is not sacred. It is a document like any other, and should be regarding as a starting point, or baseline to which we can develop a society that considers the changing world.

Why do conservatives have such an idealized understanding of it?

Answer 1

I don't see it as sacred, or unchanging, but I haven't seen better. I haven't seen the Supreme Court allow even a Nuclear Scientist be permitted to have position of a Nuclear weapon. There are many items I'd prefer the constitution not allow. I would have prefered the 16th amendment to have a cap of 10% as was originally discussed, which they laugh at it ever getting that high. I wish the 14th amendment didn't create anchor babies. I wish that the general good didn't start the welfare system at federal level. I wish the commerce clause wasn't so freely used. I wish the Senate & the House of Representatives Jealously guarded their job. The Supreme Court that allowed ObamaCare to come in as a TAX gave dictatorial power to the Fed.



Edit: I do wish the Supreme Court would pay more attention to the 10th amendment.

Answer 2

"The founding fathers could not have conceptualized the weaponry of the 21st century. Would they have wanted the second amendment to be absolute, if they knew of the existence of nuclear weapons?"



Ships of the line, capable of leveling entire cities, were in fact in private hands at the time the second amendment was ratified, so no, they wouldn't have a problem with it.



They would never have indulged a massive welfare state, which is merely theft on a grand scale.



The founding fathers were some of the best men to have ever lived. They had their flaws and their failures, but the politicians we are beset with these days are not fit to shine the shoes of those men. The constitution does provide the means to be altered should enough states agree too it. Saying that modern statists should stop the endless abuse of the commerce clause and that the size and scope of the federal government must be carefully monitored lest it become a tyrannical leviathan is hardly the sign of someone who thinks the government will be specifically limited.



Government has a job and a place, but it is like fire. You warm your hands at a campfire and you flee a forest fire. Why? If a little controlled fire gives you warmth a larger fire is much better, right?



Like a fire, government must be carefully controlled.

Answer 3

Why do you believe the Founding Fathers didn't think weapons would improve over the decades and centuries? They had seen weapons improvements and knew that trend would continue.



Furthermore, when the Founders wrote the 2nd Amendment, the people could buy and use the same basic weapon every infantry soldier had. The people and the infantry soldier were equally well armed. I see no reason to change that equation today.

Answer 4

America is a country of laws and the Constitution is the basis for all these laws. The Constitution was written so that an American's individual freedoms would be upheld. Rather than the way the Obama administration and the lawless people in Congress are doing which is making a massive government lord over all the people. When your individual rights, liberties and freedoms are gone, who will you turn to for justice? Not Obama, not Congress and not even the Supreme Court nowdays. They've all been bought off. Take the free online Constitution class through Hillsdale College and understand what the Constutition is about before you throw it under the bus.

Answer 5

It is the blueprint for our government and the basis for interpreting the legitimacy of law. Yet the document has been reinterpreted and amended quite a bit, so I don't get it either. The fact that the many justices over the years have seen and continue to see different things in it suggests it isn't that clear what the hell it all means. Many conservatives rank order things in it, which suggests they are putting a spin on it too. It is not more central to one or the other political party, and I consider the right's leaning on as something special to them as silly political posturing.

Answer 6

Why should we give our personal sovereignty over to the elite? Why are you in favor of that? Are you expecting some sort of reward from them for promoting their take over of our property, our daily lives, our futures? If so, you are kidding yourself. Makes no sense to me at all. Does technology render us all stupid fools? Did the date of 1/1/2000 really mean our lives were given over to some new cult that is to run the world? Really? 7 billion people herded under one umbrella will be quite a feat that will not happen peacefully no matter what the globalist freaks have to say. Oh yes, they have such lovely visions but human nature will always intrude on those dreams.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95Jfa95PLSI



You are wrong about conservatives not wanting to amend the constitution. We want term limits for congress and senate. We want the 17th amendment repealed. We want a balanced budget amendment. That's just for starters.

Answer 7

All legal systems are ultimately opinions backed by a gun. This is not unique to the US constitution. It is actually healthy and has a stabilizing effect, if people have a somewhat religious idealism associated with their country's system because that "delusion" is ultimately a bigger deterrent to anomie and societal breakdown (due to the self policing social inertia it provides) than the actual threats of violence and punishment by the legal enforcers. It is the deconstruction of the traditions and ideals that undermines the survival of a society and leads to an ever growing police state. The bill of rights in particular is an outline of things that government may not do based on the starting assumption of people's natural rights to negative freedom (freedom from state coercion). This, it seems to me is well worth idealizing.

Answer 8

The genius of the Founding Fathers was that they knew that times would change thus allowing the Constitution to be Amended. They knew that in order for the Constitution to stay relevant, it would have to be amended to keep pace with the changes. The Founding Fathers were "forward" thinkers, many conservatives are not.

Answer 9

They were smart enough to see what a corrupt Government like this Obama Administration would do to us.. They put in all the safe guards that should have prevented what is happening today with the over reach of Government.. The problem is not with the Constitution, the problem is with Liberals who twist and turn and ignore the words and their true meaning..

The problem is not with the Constitution as it is far advanced and could see and actually predicted the damages of a corrupt government.. The problem is with the corrupt government doing everything in their power to ignore and twist the Constitution for their own advancement..

Answer 10

The Constitution can be legally amended....your whole argument is now out the window.



But you're insinuating something else...that present day conservative,

which in reality are Liberals in the classic tradition, don't want any change at all.



But that's also not true....just don't legislate from the legal bench, nor

from the executive mansion...there are 3 branches of government for good reason.



The founding fathers knew this...that's why they made the system the way it is.

Answer 11

You don't know me or 99.999% of the other conservatives in this country. Of course I know that the founding fathers didn't have a knowledge of what we face today, but they made the document changeable. We can amend it if enough people decide they want to do it. I believe that the Constitution is a sacred document because it created the country that I love. You might disagree, but don't you dare tell me what I believe, because I am a hardworking patriot, and I want what's best for this country. It might not make sense to you, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong or ignorant. It means that I'm different from you, and that's okay. In fact, I thought liberals were all about tolerance.

Answer 12

We don't, but thanks for asking such a stupid question.



However, we do recognize that it is the best basis of a government the world has yet seen, where the radical concepts of limited government power and maximized individual rights and economic freedom were made into law.



As for the claims that it is not amenable to modern times, that's malarkey.

Answer 13

America has fared well so far by observing our constitution which, by the way, has been amended many times since it was created. You seem ignorant of that fact. There are procedures whereby the constitution can be amended if the majority of the states agree to the amendment. Unfortunately there is a minority, apparently like yourself, who favor changes which are not supported by most US residents and therefore want to circumvent the laws and wishes of the majority.

Answer 14

Because it gives you the right to ask questions of your government like you just did without the threat of prison or death.

Answer 15

The founding fathers were some of the most forward thinking people of their time and the constitution proves that. And it is not like just any other document. It's the LAW OF THE LAND. PERIOD.

Answer 16

I always gave it back when I was given too much change.

Answer 17

Let me take a wild guess, your around 19 give and take a few years. Youve had a progressive education. Where you say the pledge to Obama. Thats right, some schools did this. You say you believe in free thought, but only if its not in a form of a disagreement. And youve never had a shyty job for a long period of time and worked your way up. You thinks its cool tobe a Liberal..Am I getting this right??

Answer 18

It's a ruse of right wingers to appeal to a mythical golden age in order to achieve power or maintain it. It usually entails them blaming and creating public hysteria or disgust about some scapegoat group that they allege ruined it and advancing themselves and policies as the solution. It worked very well for the Nazis and the GOP.

Answer 19

Is that the boat in Boston?

Answer 20

Republicans believe that the constitution is a fixed document that was perfect from the start.



Thankfully, our founders disagreed with republicans, and specifically made it possible for the constitution to be amended to meet the changing needs of our country. While amendments are not easy, nor should they be, the constitution is a living document that must, and has, continued to change to reflect our current understandings of the world and our current needs as a country.

Answer 21

The last time I had a conversation with a Liberal about the Constitution, I got a headache. I refuse to say that Liberals are stupid. I just think they have incredibly bad luck when it comes to thinking.

Answer 22

They are full of ****.



Whenever they hate a new law or some action by a Democrat President, they try to convince citizens that the President is acting illegaly.

Answer 23

they want an absolute unchanging method but don't realize that as times change people have to change with it.

Answer 24

-Because so MANY of Them don't Understand a WORD it Says ?! ;)