We The People

We went to the National Constitutional Center today. Since I had a migraine this morning, we spent the afternoon in this amazing museum. We were thinking about going tomorrow, so we could have a day of rest... But then we found out that First Lady Obama is going to be at the museum tomorrow so it will be closed to the public!
The museum is dedicated to The Constitution. It was amazing.
By age 14, I had read (and understood) The Constitution (and Amendments) twice. It made me VERY sad to see the school groups rushing, pushing, and being generally rude, in this museum. They should have more respect for the document that made our country. They should have more respect in general! In the museum, there were a number of booths where you could pick three issues (such as abortion, gay marriage, guns, education, health care, national policy, etc.) and then the computer would ask you 9 questions about the issues. Depending on your answers, they would tell you which Presidential candidate would fit your beliefs better (I got Romney). Believing that only school kids were in the booths, they were papers on us, opening to curtains to look for friends, and even leaning on us! (at least until my mom said, "EXCUSE ME!" loud enough for them to hear.
After that group rushed through, another group of school kids came through. This group was Jewish and more respectful. Still, it makes me mad that kids (they weren't even kids, they were teens!) are so disrespectful. Why even take huge groups into museums if they aren't going to learn anything? We've already missed out on the Holocaust Museum in DC because it's completely booked up until June 21.

The first thing we did in the Constitution Museum was watch a 30 minute presentation on the importance of The Constitution.
The Constitution is the first government system like it. Instead of having one sovereign leader (like a king or tsar), our government has three branches that have equal power. Over all, we, the people, are the ones that govern ourselves. We vote for our leaders. Do you know how much power that holds? We can VOTE in our leaders. It is up to US to pick a good leader who will uphold The Constitution. It is up to US to vote in a leader who will let us keep the rights specified in The Bill of Rights (aka, the first 10 amendments - I know some of my readers are Canadian). It is up to US not to vote in a bum.
We the people.
Those worlds hold so much power. So much freedom.
There are checks and balances in The Constitution which keep it running smoothly. There are people who want to take those checks and balances out. Are we going to let them? If The Constitution is changed, this nation will fall apart. I strongly believe that the Founding Fathers knew what they were doing when they made this document. They spent so long making it fair and giving the power to the people - not the government. They were cooped up in a building with all the windows and doors closed in the dead of summer, debating issues of importance just to make this document.
Today, all their hard work could be destroyed in a flash.
Don't believe me? Read The Freedom Factor by Gerald N. Lund.
Today's society says that nothing really matters. The more the government does for you, the less you have to do. Therefore, you can be lazy and do whatever you want because the government will take care of you.
That is not right. One, being lazy accomplishes nothing. People like being lazy, but does it really sustain you? You just become fat and boring. We need to work. I know that when I don't do schoolwork and spend the day on the computer, I feel like I've done a crime. I feel worthless, like I can't function in society.
Two, when the government takes care of all your wants, isn't that called communism? Do we want to be a communist country? Do we really want our rights taken away?
Right now the gay rights movement is pretty popular. Everyone thinks, "Oh yes, gay marriage is good because you should be able to marry someone you love, not matter what gender." Sure, that sounds pretty good. You love someone, marry them. But since we don't want to "offend" people, churchs are being told they can't speak against gay marriage from the pulpit. As a Christian, I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman. That's the way God made us, male and female, in his image. If God had wanted gay marriage, don't you think he would have made Adam and Steve? He made Adam and EVE! Only man and woman can create life together. It was not in God's plan to have man and man reproduce. Sin has spread through human life like the poison from a snake bite.
While the gays are receiving more and more rights, my rights as a Christian - to believe what I want and to express my opinion on it - and my rights as a homeschooler as being slowly squeezed to death.
Sadly, most Americans do not even realise this is happened. Why? Because they think that the government will take care of them. People are so wrapped up in the idea that everything is about "me" that they don't care what's going on in the greater world. As long as I'm happy, no one else matters. Who cares if people are being persecuted in the streets, I have everything I want so nothing else matters!
WRONG! God calls us to put everyone else's needs in front of our own. It's very hard to put others in front of us in our culture. I think that the only way you can truly live life for others, is to live your life completely for God. Once we give our lives fully over to God, it will be much easier to love and help others.
Somehow I have gotten completely off track. Or have I? Everything runs together. Everything in connected and interconnected.... It's so hard to keep everything straight sometimes.
"A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link."
Are you the weak link? Are you the one who relys on the government for everything? Well, let me tell you, that's not how the Founding Fathers intended it to be. They intended for us to have the power, not the government. We can provide for ourselves. We don't need other countries.
We need to start taking back our rights and we need to start fighting for The Constitution.
"How can I do that?"
I have a one word answer: Education.
If we educate ourselves, we can educate others. If enough people knew about the sort of things I wrote about above, if more people actually READ the Constitution and understood their rights, I full believe that we could become the greatest nation the world has ever seen.
All it takes is education. All it takes is taking the time to slow down and read your rights. Your rights may be taken away from you right under your noses, and you might not even notice.
"I'm too young...."
You are never too young. All of this is coming from a 15 year old, alright? I have read The Constitution twice! You can to.
Let me give you an example of The Constitution's being changed - don't get me wrong, the words are still there, but they are not being followed.
If I remember correctly, according to The Constitution, the president is Commander in Chief of the army, he can meet with foreign dignitaries and ambassadors, he can veto/sign bills, and one or two others things of the sort. He does NOT have the power to declare war (I think Congress has that power) but since World War 1, only the presidents have been declaring war. Every war since WW1, has been declared by the president.
Our presidents have been expanding their power in other ways as well.
That's kind of a scary thought. The Founding Fathers made three branches of government so one man wouldn't have all the power. They wanted equal power throughout the branches. In control would be the people.
Now, the president has more power than he's supposed to, and the government is more in charge of the people than vice versa.
It's pretty scary if you think about it.
I'm trying to prove a point to you. We need to fight for our rights. We need to fight for The Constitution. No matter what it takes, we need to fight for the rights that the soldiers died for in the Revolutionary War. We need to fight for the rights that were deliberated over by the Founding Fathers.
Freedom is never free. Nothing is ever free, except the blood of Christ to save us from our sins.
The government may take care of all our needs.... But at what price?

What are YOU willing to do to keep our Constitutional rights and freedoms in tact?