Our Constitution Isn’t Dangerous, But Our Ignorance Of It Is

Constitution Day, which is on Sept. 17, will likely pass with little fanfare since no one will get a day off from work, there aren’t any furniture sales, and the likelihood of creating a viral TikTok on the separation of powers and federalism is appallingly low. Before resigning ourselves to shaking our heads at “these kids today,” though, Americans should realize it isn’t only the kids about whom we should be concerned.

The New York Times recently published an article entitled, “America’s Constitution Is Sacred. Is It Also Dangerous?” A simple “no” might suffice, but the fact that a major news outlet in this country would even ask the question is symptomatic of a national amnesia of the principled foundation of our republic. The only danger associated with the Constitution is the popular ignorance of its precepts and consequently the election of too many officials with no fealty to them. As the prophet Hosea lamented of the Israelites, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”

Of course, the Constitution is not holy writ. But just as the fortunes of the Israelites waxed and waned in correlation with their drift from knowledge and obedience to ignorance and apostasy, Americans cannot reasonably expect to “secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity” without understanding and respecting the document that makes it all possible.

If the Constitution is viewed as a covenant between the governing and the governed, how can the covenant be justly enforced if neither party understands or respects it? If “we the people” are unable to defend the Constitution, then the Constitution is unable to defend us.

President Ronald Reagan, speaking of his political opponents, once joked, “It’s not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.” Perhaps the only threat to liberty comparable to not knowing what is in the Constitution is “knowing” things that are not in the Constitution.

Today we often hear pundits and politicians, such as Democrats Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, frame the First Amendment right of free speech as inapplicable to speech some might find offensive. Subverting one individual’s right to speak to another’s fragile emotional perceptions inevitably leads to calls for the government to silence the “offending” party. This so-called “hate speech exception” is constitutionally apocryphal.

It’s also a dangerous step down a well-worn path to authoritarianism, cloaked in the veneer of democracy. History teaches that when those in power can decide whose speech is worthy of protection, speech that questions their power is the first deemed unworthy.

Our founders, though far from perfect, were among the great minds of their generation. They were students of history, philosophy, and religion. Their keen awareness of the fallen nature of man stoked their distrust of centralized power and the tyranny of the majority, which pure democracy can hasten. They set out to craft a document that would limit the power of the federal government to a few necessities that should remain constant throughout the nation and recognize in all other aspects of American life the primacy of the states.

The Ninth and 10th Amendments serve as an exclamation point to their proclamation to the American people — and the world — that in this republic, the federal structure is designed to protect the God-given rights of the people. Our written Constitution exists to ensure that the power to protect is not twisted into the power to abuse the rights of the people.

The New York Times asked a question about the Constitution that the document itself answers. But there are much more pertinent questions. One worth pondering is whether the founders would view the behemoth of our current federal government — the unelected and unaccountable fourth branch that is our administrative state — and the degree to which practically no aspect of daily life in America goes untaxed or unregulated by one government official or another and wonder how we strayed so far from their vision.

An even more important question is why more Americans do not wonder the same. For over 200 years, through wars abroad and at home, our nation and our Constitution have endured. The hope that both will continue to do so rests on our willingness to make every day Constitution Day.

Lathan Watts is the vice president of public affairs for Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal). He earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Mississippi.