Constitution Is an Inspired Document 3

            The topic of discussion for this Constitution Monday is the simple fact that the Constitution of the United States was inspired by God. The truthfulness of this fact is shown in the Constitution itself and well as the circumstances surrounding its creation and ratification. A few more of the internal evidences are as follows.

1. Popular Sovereignty. The Founders believed strongly that the power of government resided in the people, and they showed this belief in the opening lines of the Constitution: “We the People of the United State … do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” This principle means that it is the people who control what the government does. The people decide who will serve in what offices. If the elected representatives do not listen to or represent the will of the people who elected them, they can be voted out of office. This process was designed to protect the people from those who would misuse the power to vote. The Founders believed that the power should be in the people, but they feared a true democracy. They feared that the passions of the people and division into “factions” (special interests) would destroy the nation. That is one reason why they instituted the Electoral College to elect the President and Vice President and state legislatures to elect Senators (originally). The nation is becoming more and more democratic. The Constitution was amended in 1913 by Amendment 17 to have Senators elected directly by the people. Now Democrats want to do away with the Electoral College and elect the President and Vice President directly by the people. I believe that this would be a huge mistake. Just think what our lives would be like if Hillary Clinton was President because she apparently won the popular vote!

2. Written Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights, or first ten amendments to the Constitution, protects the rights of the people outside government control. Then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints feels that the phrasing of the Bill of Rights is like scripture. 

I have always felt that the United States Constitution’s closest approach to scriptural stature is in the phrasing of our Bill of Rights. Without the free exercise of religion, America could not have served as the host nation for the restoration of the gospel, which began just three decades after the Bill of Rights was ratified. I also see scriptural stature in the concept and wording of the freedoms of speech and press, the right to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures, the requirements that there must be probable cause for an arrest and that accused persons must have a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury, and the guarantee that a person will not be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. President Ezra Taft Benson has said, “Reason, necessity, tradition, and religious conviction all lead me to accept the divine origin of these rights.

The Bill of Rights is under assault. The First Amendment and the Second Amendment are receiving the most direct attacks, but those people who want total control over Americans are trying to do away with the Constitution and/or the Bill of Rights.

3. The Rule of Law and not Rule of Men. Divine inspiration is shown in the foundation of the Constitution because all the constitutionally guaranteed blessings are dependent upon the rule of law. The rule of law is the basis of liberty because it treats all citizens equally. It means that there is a body of law to which all citizens are subject, regardless of their status, wealth, or position.President J. Reuben Clark said,  “Our allegiance run[s] to the Constitution and to the principles which it embodies, and not to individuals.” Rule of law applies equally to all people and is the basic principle of good government. Marion G. Romney argued, “When the rule of law breaks down in a family, a community, a state, or a nation, chaos reigns.” 

            Popular sovereignty, a written Bill of Rights, and the rule of law are all important and internal evidences that the Constitution of the United States was written under the inspiration of God. Because of these and other principles, the Constitution has been the reason why the United States became and remains a powerful influence for freedom and liberty to the world.