A More Perfect Union: What We the People Can Do to Reclaim Our Constitutional Liberties by Ben Carson MD, Candy Carson Read Free Book Online

be handled at the state level rather than at the federal level.
    There was a specific reason for empowering the states rather than the federal government to deal with civil issues. Namely, a federal judge can, as we have seen recently, overturnthe will of the people without facing any repercussions. It is much more difficult for state judges to ignore the will of the people. Since our country was designed around the will of the people, this is an exceedingly important issue that will need to be addressed in the near future if the people are to retain power. Having a ballot referendum on an important issue is a farce if a federal judge can throw out the results and impose his or her own will in place of the will of the people. Unless these kinds of actions truly upset the populace, and unless the people are willing to actively involve themselves in restoring the balance of power, our carefully balanced union will turn into tyranny, and self-determination by the people will become only a distant memory.

PRESERVING THE UNION
    Although our Constitution is not perfect, it set up a good balance of power and has worked quite well so far, but it will do us no good if the American people don’t uphold it. The more perfect union has lasted, but today it is deteriorating. In one sense our union is too weak, as politicians squabble about details and can’t take action even as our nation heads toward disaster. In another sense the union is too strong, because the federal government has taken too much power from the states. Our goal today should be to follow the founders’ example. We must compromise for the sake of the big picture, and we must return power to the states. Only by doing that will we return to being a “more perfect Union.”

CHAPTER 5
    ESTABLISH JUSTICE AND ENSURE DOMESTIC TRANQUILLITY
    “Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.”
    Proverbs 13:3
    W e live in a world in desperate need of justice and domestic tranquillity. In the summer of 2014 in Missouri, an eighteen-year-old black male was shot and killed by a white police officer. A local grand jury composed of mixed races decided not to indict the officer. Crowds disagreeing with the decision rioted. The riots spread throughout the country, causing incredible destruction, while Americans argued over what true justice was.
    One group of citizens argued that the teenager seemed likely to have been involved in a recent strong-arm robbery and had attacked the police officer, attempting to take his gun with the intent to inflict great bodily harm upon the officer. Multiple eyewitnesses testified that the teenager had been rushing the officer at the time of the fatal shooting. Many Americans agreed that the officer had acted in self-defense.
    However, many other Americans believed justice called for the police officer’s punishment. They refused to accept the accounts of the eyewitnesses who said that the young man had been rushing the police officer and instead believed witnesses who said that he had had his hands up in surrender and had been mercilessly executed by the police officer. It’s difficult to know what the truth is, but the only prudent course of action in such a case is to abide by the rule of law and have the matter settled in court, not by riots.
    Historically, justice was defined by mob rule or by monarchical decrees. The founders of our nation had seen the results of this kind of “justice.” They wanted nothing to do with it and wanted to craft a legal system that would be consistent regardless of who was in power. They set up our Constitution to “establish Justice” and “insure domestic Tranquility.” Today we can uphold those aims by sticking to proper legal procedures, insisting that our law enforcement keep the people’s best interests in mind, applying the definition of marriage consistently instead of changing its meaning, and strengthening local government.

PROPER