The constitution, it is the supreme law of the United States of America, mandating everything from how the government is structured, to the rights of its proud citizens; but is it still applicable to America today? With our high end technology and liberalist government, how does this old piece of paper written over 200 hundred years ago really fit in to the modern day united states? We learn about and study this document in our US history classes, but people do not realize its great importance. To some it is simply a piece of historical artifact kept in a museum, but it is indeed much more than that. Without our constitution America would not be the leading country in the world. This document has been reshaped throughout time in the governing of the US, to insure accuracy in our legislative, judicial and executive branches, but at the same time, the constitution can be seen as vague.
Imagine, you have just lost a loved one who was killed in combat, perhaps a close friend, brother, cousin, father. In the midst of mourning this tragedy at his funeral, suddenly you hear screaming and shouting outside. The members of a church called Westboro Baptist are protesting the funeral, yelling all sorts of obscene and sickening things. Such as “God hates gay people” “thank god for dead soldiers” “you’re going to hell”. On March 10th 2006 Westboro Baptist church picketed the funeral of Matthew Snyder, a Marine who died in the Iraq war. Most would agree just how awful and disrespectful this was, for someone to dishonor a young man, whose life was taken serving our country and fighting for the very freedom’s that you and I enjoy every day. But what does the constitution say about it?
The first amendment undoubtedly states that citizens have the right to practice freedom of speech and religion. But did the signers of this document and the current legislatures underestimate the hatefulness and atrocities that Americans would commit? As a country, that is clearly not what we stand for. Soldiers who have lost their lives fighting for the freedom of our country should most certainly not be disrespected in this way, but immeasurably honored for their selfless sacrifice and love for our country. So yes,