Article V Blog – April 1st 2016.
“Law is an ordinance of reason for the common good, made by him who has care of the community.” – St. Thomas Aquinas
There is a hierarchy of law which is largely forgotten today. What was recognized since at least the days of the ancient Greek philosophers, our Framers famously acknowledged the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God as superior to constitutions and legislative statutes.
Hierarchy of Law:
Law of Nature’s God
Natural Law
US Constitution, Treaties, Congressional Statutes
State Constitutions
State Statutes
While our national ruling institutions pay passing obedience (when convenient) to the Constitution, the days since our nation considered two higher forms, those of Nature’s God and Natural Law, are long gone.
It is to our certain and unavoidable long-term misery that we allow this to happen.
What brought this to mind was an August 2015 American Spectator column I happened to come across. In his How the Supreme Court Abolished Article V of the Constitution, Robert Gagnon pointed out an obvious yet little-noticed consequence of the June 2015 scotus opinion, Obergefell v. Hodges, which established a nonsensical 14th Amendment right to homosexual marriage.
Simply put, a majority of nine lawyers once again assumed the sovereign people’s societal right to amend the supreme law of the land. Instead of adherence to the orderly process of Article V, a few social justice warriors substitute their passions for the aggregate reasoning of 320 million Americans.
In its practical usurpation of Article V, and in addition to assuming sovereign powers, the scotus violated both Natural Law and the Laws of Nature’s God. It is from Natural Law, which is the law of right reason, that all societies through the ages have encouraged a formal union of men and women. The formation of families and subsequent children ensure the continuation of society and promote societal peace and happiness. The importance of obedience to Natural Law was known in pre-Christian times. Socrates, Cicero and other famous ancients wrote of its superiority to manmade law.
Yet man is prone to error. God’s revealed scripture and His Ten Commandments assist man in formulating statutes that are in compliance with Natural Law. Modern secular jurisprudence attempts to organize society as if God and his revelation did not exist. If secularists even talk of Natural Law at all, it is from a position that is disconnected from the Laws of Nature’s God.
Lest some scoff, there are practical consequences to violations of higher law and the assumption of the sovereign people’s lawmaking authority. Let’s compare the effect of just a few illegitimate judicial amendments to properly derived Article V amendments:
The Natural Law right to one’s property was usurped in Helvering v. Davis (1937). By scotus, robbing Peter to pay Paul merely promotes the general welfare.
In Wickard v. Filburn (1942), Scotus blasted the doors off the commerce clause. Congress could subsequently regulate just about anything.
Everson v. Board of Education (1947). In a constitutional abracadabra, scotus blew 14th Amendment smoke up the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment. Eventually, all things Christian would be banned from the public place.
Roe v. Wade (1973). How many murdered innocents? Fifty-five million or so?
In its Obamacare rulings, scotus transformed an unconstitutional monetary penalty into a constitutional tax, and ruled that congress can force citizens to purchase private insurance. Oh.
Ignoring for a moment the clear usurpation aspect of these decisions, I challenge anyone to explain how, as a practical matter, these bastard amendments to our Constitution actually serve the purpose of our Constitutional government, the greater good, “domestic tranquility, . . . (and) the Blessings of Liberty.”
On the other hand, and rather than examine all twenty-seven actual governing amendments to our Constitution, I likewise challenge anyone to identify any amendments that violate the Laws of Nature or Nature’s God.
Our history has shown that while the people, serving in their Article V sovereign capacity, have made errors (16th, 17th & 18th Amendments), they have never violated higher law. It is up to us to accept or reject accelerating tyranny and reform our ruling institutions.
It is up to us to reclaim our sovereign lawmaking powers.
Article V.