Father
Matthew Raphael Johnson shared some thoughts on the essay posted at this site
Monday, 13 April 2015, regarding two kinds of constitutions. We present them now to the reader for
consideration.
. . .
I've gone back and forth on this issue too.
Primarily because the separation of powers seem to take sin very seriously. The
assumption is that all men seek their own interests. The concept of the
constitution is that the state will be essentially divided against itself.
However, the antifederalist condemnations of this
idea have all come true.
1. They predicted that representation will be by a
professional class of politicians. The idea at the time was that small yeomen
who knew each other, would send one of their number to congress. That was what
representation meant back then. All parties would have condemned the way it
turned out.
2. They predicted a community of interests. That
the ruling party will be united on many things, that is, strengthening the
state and controlling state governments.
3. Its not checks and balances, but rather a
division of labor. The goal is the same.
4. Its naive to think that politicians and
bureaucrats will constantly labor under the illusion that they are self-seeking
by trying to make other branches weaker. They will very soon figure out that
such a way is counterproductive.
5. Bureaucrats are the same regardless of the
branch they are attached to.
6. This was also a time before mass media, the
conglomerate, debt slavery and the rule of finance capital. Hence, it has no
real meaning when the country that created it is long gone.
Source:
E-mail dated 14 April 2015
More
of Fr Matthew’s writings and recordings may be found by following this path:
Point
number 3 of his is worth dwelling upon.
What is the goal of government?
The
u. S.
Constitution says,
We the people of the United States, in order to
form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense, 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.
The
Confederate Constitution echoed this, but wið a more religious resonance:
We, the people of the Confederate States, each
State acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a
permanent federal government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity,
and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity invoking the
favor and guidance of Almighty God do ordain and establish this Constitution
for the Confederate States of America.
The
things they aim for are good, but they miss the point of human life. The main task of government is to safeguard
the Orthodox Church, so that all men may attain salvation through her, which is
to say, to attain to never-ending, ever-deepening union with the Most Holy
Trinity (man's true goal). That none of our national or
State constitutions mention this is a sign of how far from God we have fallen
in the West, and how great is our need for repentance.
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