"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."

Only moral and religious people?  Who said that about the Constitution?

Someone who would know: John Adams, America's first vice president and second president, who served on the First Continental Congress and helped draft the Declaration of Independence.

Adams went on to say immediately thereafter, "It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."  In other words, it's "wholly inadequate to the government of" an immoral and godless people.

Sadly, in 2022, there's no shortage of those in America.

For individuals who have never read the Constitution, the preamble lays out the intent:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Per Adams, then, "We the People of the United States" means "We the [moral and religious] People of the United States ... do ordain and establish this Constitution."  It does not mean, "We the [immoral and godless] People."

That difference really could explain many of the ongoing problems in America today.

Anti-America anarchists are attacking the Constitution and constitutional rights as America approaches her 250th birthday in 2026.  Increasing numbers of citizens are endorsing socialism as the national model, an oppressive ideology that destroys liberty and freedom.

So perhaps John Adams pegged it over two centuries ago.  Maybe the issues today come down to morality and religion or, more accurately, a lack thereof.  Both are in states of precipitous decline.

It was moral and religious people who wanted "to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility," etc.  That seems logical for ethical beings attempting to escape religious persecution elsewhere in the world.

Image: John Adams by John Trumbull (cropped), 1793.  Public domain.

Would immoral, godless types want those things?

Probably not.  A less perfect Union would likely be their goal.  Certainly, less Justice would be and, preferably, no Justice.  That appears to be the trajectory the U.S. is on now.

Tranquility?

No!

Those lacking scruples and spirituality would surely have less Tranquility — i.e., Turmoil — in mind.  Immoral people profit by exploiting mayhem, not being constrained by ethical norms good people respect.  And godless heathens don't worry about the next life; they just smash and grab everything they want in this life.  Mine!  That seems a lot like where the U.S. is today or is getting darn close to being.

Defunding the police insanity decapitated Justice while trashing Tranquility as well.  The closet communists running big cities trampled two constitutional objectives at once with that and kicked the bejesus out of "general Welfare" and "the Blessings of Liberty" to boot.

Turn on the TV; see what's going on across America.  Look at what's happening on airplanes...in elevators...on Main Street, USA.  It's ugly and getting uglier day by day.

For an old academic like me, "our Posterity" (i.e., children) mentioned in the Preamble seem especially out of touch with the goals our forefathers set.  Far too few young people today have a clue about the value of the Constitution, democracy, and capitalism.  That does not bode well for the future.

In 2019, Alyssa Ahlgren, a college student working on her MBA, articulated the problem in an article entitled "My Generation Is Blind to the Prosperity around Us."  She highlighted that "the United States of America has lifted more people out of abject poverty, spread more freedom and democracy, and has created more innovation in technology and medicine than any other nation in human history."  Knowing this, she can't understand why many of those her age are attracted to socialism.

Ms. Ahlgren also noted, "We don't have a lack of prosperity problem.  We have an entitlement problem, an ungratefulness problem, and it's spreading like a plague."  That was before China's viral plague hit and infected the U.S. with Maoist prosperity-killing internment dictates.  Locked away, "a lack of prosperity problem" has become a reality.

The essay concluded by noting that Ahlgren's "generation is becoming the largest voting bloc in the country."  They can either "continue to propel us forward with the gifts [of] capitalism and democracy" or "fall into the trap of entitlement and relapse into restrictive socialist destitution."  Too many are leaning in the latter direction.

Where we stand today, it's clear moral and religious people of all ages must unite.  Multiple generations must come together to reaffirm the importance of America's Constitution.

Vote to rebuild every parameter called for in the Constitution:

A more perfect Union — Yes!

Justice — Yes!       

Domestic Tranquility — Yes!

Common defense — Yes!

General Welfare — Yes!

Blessings of Liberty — Yes!

You don't know how to vote for those?

Find those politicians who endorse all Constitution components and vote for them.  Better yet, find non-politicians who love America and are willing to shoulder the burden of getting the U.S. back on track — i.e., are willing to run for public office.  Vote for them.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people."  It's time for every moral and religious person in America to help ensure that the Constitution survives.  Anyone standing on the sideline is, by default, voting "no" on every principle therein.

R.W. Trewyn earned a Ph.D. after surviving combat in Vietnam and has survived 50-plus years slogging academe's once hallowed halls.