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Allow me to stand up and say, "Stop it!"

Stop attacking the Constitution!

You go on and on with your analysis, bringing out centuries-old arguments which have already been hashed out by the Founding Fathers, striving to discredit and undermine their work.

Enough!

The war has been waged, the arguments raised and debated, and far better men than you or I have settled the matter.

The Constitution was inspired by God. It is OVERWHELMINGLY the best document of its kind in the history of government. The Founding Fathers themselves realized and acknowledged that it is not perfect, and that it is IMPOSSIBLE to write law comprehensive enough and strong enough to account for and prevent every cunning and evil concept which could arise. That fact notwithstanding, it is a MAGNIFICENT work and has profoundly contributed to the blessing, prosperity and peace of the entire world.

Neither the Commerce Clause, nor any other part of the Constitution are to blame in any degree for the evils of men and their propensity for tyranny. To suggest such is no different than blaming a weapon for the violence of him who wields it.

I call upon ALL FReepers to rise up and DEFEND the Constitution! REVERE it! HONOR it!

And for the love of all that is right, please cease this corrosive criticism of that beloved document!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security

The Constitution was inspired by God.

I have been enjoying this very learned debate--one far over my knowledge and ability to participate in--with no intention whatsoever to say a thing until I came upon that quote from TChris.

Now, TChris, if you are a mormon, it is part of your religion that the Constitution is Divinely inspired. You're wrong, but that's part of your religion. However, my immediate concern is the dangerous relativism and henotheism of someone declaring any one nation's charter--other than Israel's (and I mean the Jewish People, not the State)--as "inspired by G-d." If the Constitution is "inspired by G-d" perhaps it should be adopted by every nation on earth. And if it is not good enough or fit to be universal, perhaps you mean it is inspired by the American "gxd" and constitutes "the truth" for our country. Is there then a separate "truth" for every country in the world? Just how many "truths"--and how many "gxds"--are there?

My own political ancestry is strictly Federalist via Southern Unionist Republicans during the Civil War, but I certainly have never claimed the Constitution was perfect or "inspired by G-d" (hence my interest in following this conversation). This deviates from theories of government into theology and is nothing more than a form of polytheism: America's Constitution is "inspired by G-d," Ethiopia is ruled by the Solomonic dynasty, J*sus personally descended and struck the soil of Armenia with a hammer, etc. All human created systems of government--and our own system is very much human-created--are imperfect. Perhaps the Constitution is indeed very much worthy of defense as you say, but calling it "inspired by G-d" was either a clumsy bit of exaggeration, an assertion of LDS doctrine, or else just plain horrifying.

As I said, I am of Federalist political ancestry myself and am the furthest thing away from libertarian that one can be. But there are no separate "gxds" or scriptures or religious truths for all the various nations. There is One G-d and One Truth. I have long noticed this henotheistic tendency in American conservatism (and its even worse in the conservatisms of other countries), and I simply had to respond to TChris' comment. Doubtless my point will be misunderstood by all.

We now return to the debate in which I sincerely hope I will not interpose again.