The Constitution has an expiration date?

Ezra Klein follows in the steps of moral relativism

Whether The Washington Post's Ezra Klein knows it or not, he is taking his lead not from contemporary politicians or TV personalities, but from relativist philosophers and moral theorists. When relativism is the default, then truth in all forms is fungible.

WASHINGTON DC (Catholic Online) - Under the new rules of the 112th Congress, Congress is now required to read aloud the US Constitution during the commencement of any congressional session. Since the Constitution is at the heart of many legislative battles right now - the most popular of which is the controversial healthcare bill that passed in the 111th Congress-being reminded that the Constitution is our legal foundation seems to be a fairly important point to make.

Ezra Klein, a young liberal blogger and columnist for The Washington Post, Newsweek and a contributor to MSNBC, said in an MSNBC television interview that:

"You can say two things about it [reading the Constitution aloud before Congress]: One, is that it has no binding power on anything. And two, the issue of the Constitution is not that people don't read the text and think they're following. The issue of the Constitution is that the text is confusing because it was written more than 100 years ago and what people believe it says differs from person to person and differs depending on what they want to get done."

Klein later clarified in his Washington Post column that it is the reading of the Constitution aloud before Congress that is not binding, not the Constitution itself.

Christians are traditionally staunch supporters of the US Constitution. After all, if it were not for the Constitution and the wisdom of the Founding Fathers, our religious liberty might have never survived. Europe has seen a striking decline in religious practice, in part, due to its suppression by governmental authorities.

Beyond being benefactors of the Constitution, our Judeo-Christian heritage also forms the foundation of this historic document. The US Constitution also upholds life, liberty, right to personal property, the right to self-defense, protection from unlawful search and seizure, rights during war, protection from self-incrimination, and much more. These are all based in a Judeo-Christian ethic and philosophy.

But what would happen to us if the US Constitution were suddenly seen as too old--as if it had an expiration date--and that because the Constitution is difficult to understand it should not be seen as a statement of principle, but rather a statement of relative meaning.

Be wary of statements like Klein's. He seems to believe that the reader decides what the Constitution says, as if it were impressionist art. Rather than look to what the Founders were trying to say 100 years ago, he seems to think we should just interpret the text the way we wish. After all, how could a 100 year old document bear any truth on us progressive benefactors of the Enlightenment?

Sound familiar? Some people say the same thing about the Bible. What truth could Biblical teaching have for us? Aren't we beyond all that morality mumbo-jumbo? Do we really want to go back to the dark ages? Can't we individually decide what the Bible does and doesn't say (if it were to have any truth at all)? Saying that the Bible or the Constitution--not that we should equate the two--have no bearing simply because they are old or confusing, becomes a masked way of advocating relativism. Relativism says there is no accessible, knowable truth--it's all relative. Each person's opinions are therefore equally valid.

If relativism is accepted and normative, then Biblical and classical Christian claims on the sanctity of human life, marriage, liberty or anything else are empty. When relativism is the default, then truth in all forms is fungible. Whether Klein knows it or not, he is taking his lead not from contemporary politicians or TV personalities, but from relativist philosophers and moral theorists.

Along with others who see the US Constitution as "living," and by that mean baseless, Klein is taking broken America's ethical compass and applying it to American law as well.

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Billy Atwell contributes to Catholic Online, and blogs for The Point and the Manhattan Declaration. As a young lay Catholic and two-time cancer survivor he offers commentary on faith, culture, and politics. You can find all of his writings at For the Greater Glory.

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