A common refrain from Conservatives is their stated desire to return to the principles enshrined in the Constitution. What they never consider, and what no one ever asks, is which Constitution? Many of them claim to be constitutional originalists, but it’s doubtful they’d relish going back to the original Constitution. Ask a constitutional Conservative if he wants slavery reinstituted, women denied the franchise, and if people bound to service should be counted as three-fifths of a person on the census. What would the Framers make of student loan scam victims essentially indentured to banks?
Our blatantly and increasingly dysfunctional political system cannot enact the people’s will. When Congress splurges on defense spending in the interests of foreign nations but can’t spare one red cent for a border wall; when a fabrication about alleged teen shenanigans from four decades ago paralyzes the Senate beyond the ability to conduct a straightforward judicial confirmation, we’re not dealing with a good system gone astray. We’re living the inevitable end state of a political philosophy built on false premises.
In a word: Weimerica.
The Founding Fathers themselves warned that the Constitution was fit only for the governance of a people informed by Christian morals. That should’ve been a major clue for constitutional Conservatives. The US Constitution is not infallible. It is based on compromise, not immutable truth. The very fact that it can be amended demonstrates that Constitutional principles are not first principles. Such arguments can only be backed up by appeals to unchanging Christian moral principles.
Conservatives will no doubt object that they already acknowledge the laws of nature and nature’s God. All well and good. They and I both accept Christian moral principles, so let’s cut out the middleman and base a sociopolitical order on those.