From the Constitution of the United States of America
First Amendment
Congress shall
make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a
redress of grievances.
Second Amendment
A well regulated
Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State
Assertion/Question
There has been a long standing assertion that the US 2nd
Amendment was put in place to protect the 1st Amendment, though for
many this does not seem like a reasonable position to hold; additionally for
many people the 1st Amendment only addresses freedom of speech.
This Author’s Position/Reasoning
The simplicity of the US Constitution is in adoption a work
of art. Of course as the years passed many people were able to provide many
interpretations. For example from the 1st amendment there is the
term ‘the press’. Back in the day of the writing of the Constitution, some people
privately owned their own printing press and others would bring a single
page document to have it printed in mass to be handed out to the masses; this practice provided for the launch of
many a NEWS paper, some of which became what we recognize as ‘The Press’ of
today.
From the 2nd amendment I want to draw your
attention to the term, ‘A well regulated Militia’. For the Americans in 1791, there was an
expectation that every able bodied man and male youth who could carry an ax,
stick or pitchfork, shoot a pistol and/or musket would rise in defense of
their community, much like every able bodied person would also be expected
assisting in putting out a fire in their community.
When considering the two amendments being taken to task here,
both have lines which provide the ideals being a good citizen within a
community. The 1st is a promise towards ensuring a pursuit of prosperity,
while the 2nd provides the means for the citizens to be responsible
to themselves coupled with an almost matching responsibility to their community. Also, remember that the primary task of any Federal government is supposed to be the safety
of the people ‘from enemies both foreign and domestic’, as the Americans like to put it, and when the Federal Government
fails at these tasks the citizenry, writ large, will remain equipped with the
ability to pick-up that task thus ensuring the basic freedoms of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness for both themselves and their community and that those
pursuits shall not be infringed upon.
Long has it been debated regarding The Law, if any preference
should been given to the intent of a law over the word of a law, this conversation
asked for either a subjective or an objective interpretation and The US
Constitution has not been exempt from this level of partisanship.
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were
learned men; many of them knew history, multiple languages, the law, and grammar,
additionally they understood that when you don’t want something repeated,
simply don’t write it down. Yet these men wrote it down and therefore by
logical extension they wanted it repeated, and for about 180 years it was read and repeated often with the original intent mostly understood and debated. Then a number of things changed around 1960 when large swaths of people started taking way too many pills.
On the point of being well learned and tutored in
disciplines such as: history, philosophy, law and especially grammar, please
keep that in mind when you the reader considers the two sentences below:
I love eating, my
friends, and my pets
Vs.
I love eating my
friends and my pets.
So yes, one must remember that details such as commas can be
very important, less you want to sound like a psychopath.
