Why are we surprised that the SC Justices would cite laws from the dark ages to justify their elimination of civil rights?
Interpreting The Constitution
The Brennan Center
Michael Waldman
"Justice William J. Brennan Jr. rebuked the first arguments for originalism in the 1980s. “We current Justices read the Constitution in the only way that we can: as twentieth-century Americans,” he said then. “We look to the history of the time of framing and to the intervening history of interpretation. But the ultimate question must be: What do the words of the text mean in our time? For the genius of the Constitution rests not in any static meaning it might have had in a world that is dead and gone, but in the adaptability of its great prin-ciples to cope with current problems and current needs.”"
I believe most educated Americans read the Constitution and come to the same understanding as Justice Brennan. I believe that also applies to those who call themselves Conservatives because they make different arguments and interpretations depending on their agenda. When they argue for Second Amendment rights, which pertains to state-regulated militias, their interpretation is that we still live in a Colonial time and must interpret the Constitution verbatim with no consideration for the advancement of society. There is no part of the amendment that calls for individual rights to bear arms. But for owning weapons of war, they move from original to modern interpretation. They are very flexible. Whatever suits the present need. They pretend to see white men in powdered wigs, capri pants, stockings, and codpieces, or Jesus Christ, down from the cross and heavily armed. Why are we surprised that the SC Justices would cite laws from the dark ages to justify their elimination of civil rights?
When they argue against individual choice, they argue there is no part of the First Amendment that grants any individual rights, and that none of the other amendments may be used to argue for individual rights. An 18-year-old can buy an AR-15 but a 25-year-old woman cannot choose to abort an unwanted pregnancy, and a 65-year-old Black man doesn't know enough to vote. They think all religions other than Christianity, are made up of whole cloth, and are purely mythical.
Zeus, Jupiter, and Jesus Christ have the same pedigree.
What is the mission statement of the Republic? It is the Preamble to the Constitution:
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
"A preamble is an introductory and expressionary statement in a document that explains its purpose and underlying philosophy."
The Preamble is not simply an assignment in fifth-grade civics class, to be memorized for passing a test, and forgotten. It is the anchor statement of the whole document. All the articles, clauses, and amendments are directly related to one of those verbs that lay out the aim of the government. The majority rules, but the minority must also be protected under the same articles. There is no reference to a political party, race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. We cannot read into the constitution things that do not exist in order to deny the rights of 'others.'
If we take a minute to read through this splendidly crafted document, it is apparent why religions, capitalists, and authoritarians see it as a stumbling block and something they need to get rid of. People who call for the burning of books and men see this as the one document they wish they could eradicate from the memory of free men, everywhere. They know their philosophy cannot stand up to the critical eye of truth and fact. They fear, and rightly so, that your freedoms are a threat to their mystical lies because they are. Your freedom, guaranteed by the constitution, is their bane. They see equality as a threat to their continued enterprise.
The Supreme Court has chosen June as the month to release all their perverted rulings against all those rights which are celebrated in June. In the next term, I suspect they will release more perverted rulings dealing with rights we celebrate most when we celebrate our independence from the monarchy. I use the word 'perverted' because it most correctly defines what the Supreme Court Justices, the Republican party (as it now exists), and the Christians have done and are doing to our system of justice.
The problem is not with the Constitution but that we do not enforce it. The Constitution is a stumbling block to tyranny. We have not lived up to it. The Constitution is a progressive document that must be interpreted by society in each successive age. Our laws have to be written to reflect our needs. The Constitution does not anchor society to 1776.
Heather Richardson Cox in today's commentary, referred to Johnson's effort to pass civil rights legislation in the 60s. She cited Sen. Richard Russell (D-GA), “We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our states.” This is the idealism we are dealing with today. This is in agreement with the constitutions of several Southern states, at least at the time of their sedition.
We are the posterity of those men who, although being slave owners, deists, and other sorts of men, had the wisdom and the firsthand experience with tyranny to provide us with a democratically governed Republic. In order to keep it we have to nurture it, exercise it, appreciate it, and respect it. We are a nation of laws and the Constitution is the sole guide to laws that keep us a free nation. Do not be deceived by politicians, religionists, or other charlatans. We are a city on the hill. Not because Jesus said it. Not because John Kennedy or Ronald Reagan said it. The Constitution of The United States of America is what makes us a shining city on a hill.
Frederick Douglas whooped the shit out of one slave overseer and the rest of white society is scared shitless that he is coming after them.
"The man who robs me of my earnings at the end of each week meets me as a class-leader on Sunday morning, to show me the way of life, and the path of salvation." That is the Christian creed. There is nothing wrong with being white. It is the bigotry that makes us mean and without understanding.
I do have a suggestion: White people start listening to minority people. It is not for us to explain to Black people or other minorities what it is they want and need. As a matter of fact, during the protests following the murder of George Floyd, the question came up. "What more do these people want?" Who can ask such a question?
I don't know if White people are really that clueless, or if like James Baldwin said, "They hide behind the lies" of the past 419-20 years.
In view of the upcoming celebration of our ‘White Heritage’, I want to cite Frederick Douglas (1818 - 1895) again with his commentary on slaves and the Fourth of July celebration:
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour."
We may now, without doubt, extrapolate his astute observance to women, LGBTQ+, religions other than Christianity, Black and Brown people of all persuasions, and any entities not mentioned.
"The people who settled the country had a fatal flaw. They could recognize a man when they saw one. They knew he wasn’t…anything else but a man; but since they were Christian, and since they had already decided that they came here to establish a free country, the only way to justify the role this chattel was playing in one’s life was to say that he was not a man. For if he wasn’t, then no crime had been committed. That lie is the basis of our present trouble."
James Baldwin (1924 - 1987)
Glaude Jr., Eddie S. . Begin Again (p. 9). Crown. Kindle Edition.
That is the lie white men hide behind, with the approval of the Christian church. Their fear of what they are has driven them to this hatred and unbridled persecution of everything not straight white Christian male. It must be a most miserable existence.
Therefore, “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.”
I'm not sure of the bible translations and versions and it doesn't matter. Who declares what is clean and unclean? Men of questionable character and mean disposition. Men who have twisted the ancient poetry and mythology of another people into their own hate-filled weapon against society. When the rights of any person rest in the hands of a criminal empire, society is in serious trouble.
If we find ourselves surprised that Black men, even escaped slaves, women, and queers, could write and speak with such eloquence, we can mark it up to our own ignorance. Christian indoctrination is not education. Dismissing Christian indoctrination as harmless is not acceptable. Christian indoctrination is what brought us to this point. We have practiced white Christianity until it has the power to destroy us.
We do not have to agree with anyone's life choices or circumstances, but we are obligated to accept them, because we, too, are a victim of circumstance. This is how we were born.