In the 18th century, a group of remarkable people found themselves with the opportunity to form a new government. After years of study, debate and compromise, they created a government unique in the history of the world. Ideas like “all men are created equal,” “endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness,” and “We the People” were the result of their work.
These were imperfect people writing what they knew were imperfect documents, but they had a hope that in the future their work would continue to be perfected. Unimaginable treasure and blood has been spent by the people of this nation to try and achieve that perfection.
The founders were also concerned about men’s darker side, prompting one founder to write “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” The natural inclination of humankind is toward immoral acts such as pride, greed, envy, lust, wrath, sloth and gluttony. Because we are imperfect, those sins and other immoral acts are part of our history as a nation and a people. Changing our history and other people is not possible, but changing ourselves is possible.
Why don’t we look inwardly, no matter who we are, and see what we can change in ourselves to be a more moral person, thus helping to make the vision of our founders a reality?
Sam Frampton, Holladay