A Positive Message and Opportunity for Change

by Brian Dugas

Like many of us, I watch the news every day with anxiety and frustration, so I wanted to say something positive today. I want to talk about change, particularly in relation to our government. I used to teach about the Constitution on the high school level, I'm not a scholar on it by any means, but I did attend some enhanced training on it at what used to be called the Freedom Foundation in Valley Forge, and the US Institute of Peace in Washington DC.

You probably know that the Constitutional Convention was a very contentious gathering of men from a variety of backgrounds trying to build a government from scratch using plans proposed by different states. The convention was held here in Pennsylvania from May to September of 1787. As a result of that convention, they created the structure of the government that we currently have: three branches (Executive, Legislative, Judicial), each with their own duties and responsibilities (separation of powers), with checks and balances between the three of them (which has been severely tested lately).

I’m not sure whether you know it or not, but the Founding Fathers were concerned about several issues that have become very important lately, among them: the federal government having too much power, and the ability of the Constitution to be changed to reflect the needs of the people. Thomas Jefferson actually felt that the Constitution should expire or be radically revised regularly, and of course the Bill of Rights was written by James Madison to limit government power and protect individual liberties.

The ability to change the Constitution was written right into the document, and has been used 27 times, the first ten being the Bill of Rights. For those of you who may have forgotten, amendments are proposed by a ⅔ vote in both the House and Senate or by a National Convention called by ⅔ of state legislatures, then it has to be ratified by ¾ of the states(38) through either state legislatures or state conventions. This is not an easy thing to do, made that way purposely by people who were afraid of the states getting too much power to make their own changes. I'm sure you can see that the people of this country would have to be very anxious or frustrated to push hard enough for the changes that need to happen. “Are we there yet?” We may be soon!

I apologize to those of you who didn't come to church for a civics lesson, but what has become obvious is that changes are coming whether we want them or not. Mark Twain once said “If you want to change the future, you must change what you are doing in the present”. Confucius said “To improve is to change, to be perfect is to change often”.

I believe that for far too long we have enshrined the Constitution as infallible and not subject to change, not even the Founding Fathers who wrote it believed that was true.

Change is coming to this country whether we want it or not, in fact I think we can all agree that it has changed significantly over the last year. But change does not have to be bad, historically it has brought about many positive things. From a historical perspective change is “a fundamental concept for understanding how societies move from past states to new ones, encompassing revolutions, gradual shifts, innovations and social movements”. We are in the midst of a social movement, and for those like me who have had their eyes opened to the prejudice, injustice, and corruption in this country's past, we have an opportunity to do better right now. That is what I would call a positive message!