Why does the constitution matter?

fife

So i was talking with a friend of mine yesterday about what happen in Azi. and we discussed the gun laws and i raised that i don't believe that guns should be legal and he raised the part about the right to have arms and how it based on the US constitution.

we then started to expand out talk to other issues facing America such as tea party movement and how they want to limit government to what under the con. they are allowed to do. i began to wonder why people hold the constitution to be so important.

I have never understood why any piece of paper is that important but i want to learn from other why they think it's important?

Thank you

mikepegg44

fife wrote:

So i was talking with a friend of mine yesterday about what happen in Azi. and we discussed the gun laws and i raised that i don't believe that guns should be legal and he raised the part about the right to have arms and how it based on the US constitution.

we then started to expand out talk to other issues facing America such as tea party movement and how they want to limit government to what under the con. they are allowed to do. i began to wonder why people hold the constitution to be so important.

I have never understood why any piece of paper is that important but i want to learn from other why they think it's important?

Thank you

the constitution is the document that outlines what government can and cannot do. It is the single most important "piece of paper" in our nation's history. Without it we have a completely different country today. It isn't simply a piece of paper by the way...it is a set of rules that is supposed to limit what the federal government can do. The beauty of it being that the document itself isn't even finished. It actually has rules in place to add to it or take away. Not sure how you cannot see its importance.

he still stands

I think it's a fair question, but to warn you there will be several people here that will say the answer is intrinsic, implicit, or "common sense" and it's a dumb question.

For me, I think it is because it's the "backbone" of our government. The bedrock principles of the federal government, the branches of government, and the relationships between federal and state government are about as immutable as anything in this world. It is sort of "worshipped" in that regard because people feel there is a slippery slope - a change here or there will lead to a complete upheaval of our current way of life.

There are many questionable or downright stupid things in the constitution and it has allowed for a democracy to be turned into a fascist police state, so maybe a complete revision is in order? That "revision" would actually be a complete "revolution" though and I don't think our military will allow that to happen!

fife

mikepegg44 wrote:

fife wrote:

So i was talking with a friend of mine yesterday about what happen in Azi. and we discussed the gun laws and i raised that i don't believe that guns should be legal and he raised the part about the right to have arms and how it based on the US constitution.

we then started to expand out talk to other issues facing America such as tea party movement and how they want to limit government to what under the con. they are allowed to do. i began to wonder why people hold the constitution to be so important.

I have never understood why any piece of paper is that important but i want to learn from other why they think it's important?

Thank you

the constitution is the document that outlines what government can and cannot do. It is the single most important "piece of paper" in our nation's history. Without it we have a completely different country today. It isn't simply a piece of paper by the way...it is a set of rules that is supposed to limit what the federal government can do. The beauty of it being that the document itself isn't even finished. It actually has rules in place to add to it or take away. Not sure how you cannot see its importance.

your right i choose the wrong words, i can see the important but i can't see the blind faith that people have towards it. I see it as a set of rules that was written many centuries ago by people who in reality never understood what the future will be like.

BinauralJam

i belive the world in anarchy and we create ideas to make us feel better, but don't do much when we need it.

Cool Face Ryan

I wrote a paper on why the second amendment should be revoked for my American Government class last semester. A+

eddiec

manutd3581 wrote:

I wrote a paper on why the second amendment should be revoked for my American Government class last semester. A+

Post It.

Cool Face Ryan

eddiec wrote:

manutd3581 wrote:

I wrote a paper on why the second amendment should be revoked for my American Government class last semester. A+

Post It.

I dont have it anymore i clean out my inventory of school work after my grades come in :shock:

pandora

manutd3581 wrote:

eddiec wrote:

manutd3581 wrote:

I wrote a paper on why the second amendment should be revoked for my American Government class last semester. A+

Post It.

I dont have it anymore i clean out my inventory of school work after my grades come in :shock:

maybe save some of your writing, you may want them some day.....40 years from now

whygohome

http://www.hulu.com/watch/207598/saturd ... nal-corner

Hugh Freaking Dillon

too bad you got rid of it, I would have loved to have read it too.

manutd3581 wrote:

I wrote a paper on why the second amendment should be revoked for my American Government class last semester. A+

mickeyrat

gotta love wiki
Umm, while highly important for the country, I would argue that the Declaration of Independence is the first important documant even though we weren't formally recognized as a country yet. Constitution was written a full 11 years after the Declaration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Constitution

mickeyrat

just for reference sake
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution

Waidian

manutd3581 wrote:

I wrote a paper on why the second amendment should be revoked for my American Government class last semester. A+

Bet you would have gotten an F if you wrote a paper that was anti-abortion.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

:?

Waidian wrote:

manutd3581 wrote:

I wrote a paper on why the second amendment should be revoked for my American Government class last semester. A+

Bet you would have gotten an F if you wrote a paper that was anti-abortion.

know1

I'm not intelligent enough to speak about the importance of the entire constitution, but I will say that the so-called right to bear arms has slowly gone away over the years to the point that it's meaningless now.

At the time it was written, it basically meant the right to have the same kind of weapons the government could access. Currently, it just means we can own pistols, rifles and shotguns.

Comparatively, it would be like the citizens being allowed to possess sewing needles and twigs back then when it was written (when the government had guns and cannons).

he still stands

Come on guys, does ANYONE remember the movie Bowling for Columbine? It was pretty sloppy at points but Moore makes the point, and I think it a good one, that justing OWNING guns can't be blamed for our violence. Many other countries have similar gun ownership rates but don't have the violence.

mikepegg44

fife wrote:

mikepegg44 wrote:

fife wrote:

So i was talking with a friend of mine yesterday about what happen in Azi. and we discussed the gun laws and i raised that i don't believe that guns should be legal and he raised the part about the right to have arms and how it based on the US constitution.

we then started to expand out talk to other issues facing America such as tea party movement and how they want to limit government to what under the con. they are allowed to do. i began to wonder why people hold the constitution to be so important.

I have never understood why any piece of paper is that important but i want to learn from other why they think it's important?

Thank you

the constitution is the document that outlines what government can and cannot do. It is the single most important "piece of paper" in our nation's history. Without it we have a completely different country today. It isn't simply a piece of paper by the way...it is a set of rules that is supposed to limit what the federal government can do. The beauty of it being that the document itself isn't even finished. It actually has rules in place to add to it or take away. Not sure how you cannot see its importance.

your right i choose the wrong words, i can see the important but i can't see the blind faith that people have towards it. I see it as a set of rules that was written many centuries ago by people who in reality never understood what the future will be like.

It isn't blind faith. It is simple...without this document our country looks completely different today, and the history of our country would have been completely different. It is a set of ever changing rules...in that the founders realized they couldn't do it perfectly but wrote into the document how to make the necessary changes. That is the beauty of it. 200 plus years later and adhering to this document still does way more good than bad.

BH304897

Like just about every piece of paper written over 200 years ago, it was important at the time and as a meaning, however the litteral translation today is obsolete to say the least. If I'm correct there is no mention of right to bear arms in it, it was meant for the people to have the right to form a militia when the government was unable to supply an adequate protection (ie army). This has been interpreted by many, but they are just that interpretations. In this day in age the anyone who uses the right to bear arms as a reason to rebel against a corrupt government is fooling themselves, how good is a shotgun against missiles, tanks, aircraft etc. Personally I think people should have a right to own guns, but there should be required week long classes each year teaching gun safety etc. If you don't go or don't pass you lose the right until it's completed. Just a personal opinion though.

acoustic guy

manutd3581 wrote:

I wrote a paper on why the second amendment should be revoked for my American Government class last semester. A+

And what far left liberal college was this???

acoustic guy

Get rid of the constitution????
Some of you in here make me sick...