- Moderator
- #1
In a question about the Constitution and Ron Paul, Rick Santorum replied with the following:
I am strongly starting to lead toward Santorum as my nominee choice. He nailed it with this answer.
Ron Paul has a libertarian view of the Constitution. I do not. The Constitution has to be read in the context of another founding document, and thats the Declaration of Independence. Our country never was a libertarian idea of radical individualism. We have certain values and principles that are embodied in our country. We have God-given rights.
The Constitution is not the why of America; its the how of America. Its the operators manual. Its the rules we have to play by to ensure something. And what do we ensure? God-given rights. And so to read the Constitution as the end-all, be-all is, in a sense, what happened in France. You see, during the time of our revolution, we had a Declaration of Independence that said, 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.
So we were founded as a country that had God-given rights that the government had to respect. And with those rights come responsibilities, right? God did not just give us rights. He gave us a moral code by which to exercise them.
See, thats what Ron Paul sort of leaves out. He leaves out rights and responsibilities that we have from God that this Constitution is to protect. And he says, No, we just have rights, and then thats it. No, we dont. America is a moral enterprise .
My understanding of our founding documents and the purpose of this country is different. I would argue that [Pauls] understanding of the Constitution was similar to the French Revolution and the French understanding of the Constitution. The French had 21, I think, constitutions, but their constitutions were initially patterned after the American Constitution. Gave radical freedom, like ours does. But their founding document was not the Declaration of Independence. Their founding watchwords were the words, liberty and fraternity. Fraternity. Brotherhood. But no fatherhood. No God. It was a completely secular revolution. An anti-clerical revolution. And the root of it was, whoevers in power rules.
I am strongly starting to lead toward Santorum as my nominee choice. He nailed it with this answer.