Bullypulpit
Senior Member
...A favorite catch phrase of some right-wing nuts these days. Do we have any hints as to the thoughts of the framers of the Constitution regarding changes to it...? Whether by amendment or legal interpretation?
<blockquote>I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.</blockquote>
Name that quote! I'll save you the trouble, it was Thomas Jefferson. He understood that for a society to grow and flourish, its institutions must also grow and keep pace with that change and growth. If those institutions fail to keep pace with those changes in a society, stagnation, decay and, eventually, death are the ultimate end for that society.
<blockquote>I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.</blockquote>
Name that quote! I'll save you the trouble, it was Thomas Jefferson. He understood that for a society to grow and flourish, its institutions must also grow and keep pace with that change and growth. If those institutions fail to keep pace with those changes in a society, stagnation, decay and, eventually, death are the ultimate end for that society.