Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

Many religious people think the Constitution is in the same mystical pantheon as the Bible; that every word is unblemished truth, not to be interpreted by mere mortals; and a lot of Conservatives get close to that reverence. In reality, the Constitution is unoriginal material written by deeply flawed men; the time, place, and ingredients were simply right for it to happen. Most folks get their Constitutional scholarship from what they remember in 8th grade civics, and bloviating know-it-alls on TV. In reality, the Constitution has become an arcane fable whose interpretation is mostly through precedence; nobody is deciding what the words mean anymore, but rather what other people thought the words meant in the past.

Earlier in the Constitution's 200 year history, lots of things changed, which only deepens today's perplexity, because considering its evolution, it's clear that the Constitution was indeed “living” at one point, though it's not now, and may even have stopped changing forever? The last time there was a real Amendment was in 1971, almost 50 years ago, and no new Amendments seem likely. Actually, the Constitution has become a lot like the Bible because its thoughts have been solidified, and there's no further expansion for modern times. Unfortunately, for those who want to upset the status quo, this state of Constitutional affairs is going to have to bend or something's going to break.