Playing by the rules

I was talking to an acquaintance the other day about politics.  He was talking about the strict constitutionalists and how he didn't agree with them. I let him know that I was a strict constitutionalist. Our conversation basically ended there.

I've been thinking about the constitution and how it is treated. Some say that the Constitution is old-fashioned and does not reflect the complexity of our modern world. Thus, they say, we need a living Constitution or a loose interpretation of the document. The problem, I believe, with this argument and suggestion, is that there is nothing anchoring a "living Constitution" or the "loose" interpretation applied to what Ezra Taft Benson called "A Heavenly Banner."  Instead, I think there is a simple solution.

All we need to do is play by the rules. We need to amend the Constitution whenever we think it is outdated or does not handle our current situation correctly. If we don't want to live by any of the Constitution, we should amend it out of existence, as the Constitutional Convention did with the Articles of Confederation.

One of the advantages of amending the Constitution is that it puts down the possibility of some faction rising up and having a violent coup, when they don't like where our country is going. Instead, there would be discussion, deliberation, and input from the people. The people would feel that their voices were heard, and would more than likely accept the change (or tolerate it peacefully).

An analogy may help. Pick a sport, any sport. That sport has rules by which the competitors play. Imagine if two teams were in the midst of the game and a referee tells everyone that he doesn't like a rule and so going to ignore that rule. If each player decided to play by his/her rules, then there would be chaos. Many of the fans perhaps would become disenchanted with the sport.

The Constitution has laid out the process by which it can be changed. Constitutional amendment. Those are the rules. So, instead of ignoring the Constitution, we should amend it when needed. Play by the rules!