Promoting the General Welfare

This post doesn’t have much to do with theology or the life of 2^nd Presbyterian Church, but I just feel the need to say this. Please feel free to not read it, or to stop reading if you don’t like it.

I have sometimes been accused of not being patriotic or not loving our country due to my criticism of what I perceive to be things we should be doing better. Nothing could be further from the truth, however. I love America and am grateful to have been born here. I am grateful for the freedoms and rights we enjoy as American citizens, freedoms for which many have fought and died. I was taught in my youth that one of the most patriotic things we can do is to hold our country, its people, and its leaders to the high ideals our Founding Fathers set for us, and to be critical when we are falling short of those ideals.

These ideals are laid out in our founding documents – The Declaration of Independence, The United States Constitution, and The Bill of Rights. I don’t believe they were “God-ordained”, but I do believe they were “Spirit-inspired”, and I do not think it is hyperbole to say that these documents are some of the most important documents ever written by human beings. After each of my children completed the 5^th grade, I took them for a week-long trip to our Nation’s Capital so that they would have an appreciation of our country’s history and polity. One of the highlights of each trip was going to the National Archives and seeing these documents in person. I wanted my children to revere the philosophies contained in these documents and the high ideals to which we should aspire as Americans, even if we have not always, as a nation, lived up to them.

We’ve been hearing a great deal lately about freedoms and rights. Those who do not wish to be vaccinated or wear a mask claim that they have the freedom not to do so and that it is an infringement on their rights to mandate that they do so. Essentially, they are saying that they have the right to do what they wish when it comes to their bodies, their health, and that of their children. (Interestingly, those same people seem not to honor the “my body, my choice” argument when it comes to abortion, but that’s a different blog post for a different time!) Their claims for these freedoms and rights appeal to the founding documents that are so precious to us as Americans, and they are not wrong. The Constitution and, especially, The Bill of Rights grant great individual freedoms to the citizens of our country.

Lost in this discussion, however, is a much more important argument – the reason these rights exist in the first place. With all of the focus on individual rights granted by The Constitution and Bill of Rights, we seem to have lost sight of what is arguably the best and most important part of The United States Constitution – the Preamble. If you’re like me, you had to memorize it in 5^th grade. I don’t know that students are still required to do this, but they should be. It lays out the whole reason for the rights enshrined in The Constitution and Bill of Rights in the first place.

You’ll remember it begins, We, the people… Not We the Founding Fathers…, or We, the land-owners…, or We, the elected representatives of the people…, or We, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans… It’s us – all of us, together. The Constitution invites all of us from the very beginning to be part of the Great Experiment that is about to begin. We are in this thing together.

Then come the reasons for everything that follows, In order to… I won’t list them all – you probably know them – but I do want to highlight a few.

form a more perfect union… I love this. How can anything be more perfect? Right up front we are saying that we know we are not perfect but that should always strive to be better, always strive to meet the ideals laid out in our founding documents. We should never be complacent, thinking that we have reached our destination. We can always be more just, more equal, more perfect than we already are.

establish justice, insure domestic tranquility… The reason we have our freedoms is so that justice and tranquility will prevail. Both seem to be in short supply at the moment. I recently saw a TV show with a fictional judge who was fed up with how our justice system treats people of low socio-economic standing, mostly people of color, who do not have the means to manipulate the system as the wealthy corporations do. He said, “Justice isn’t justice if it’s not just.” As for tranquility? Just turn on the news. Or attend a Knox County School Board meeting.

promote the general welfare… This is the big one that seems to have been forgotten. Because it is We, the people who are in this together, the general welfare of the nation and the common good of all the people of our nation should be our primary goal. This means that, on occasion, our individual rights and freedoms must be put aside for the betterment of the whole. It means we have to look out for each other, do what’s best for others, even if that means making a sacrifice ourselves. This is what it truly means to be American, what it really means to be patriotic. A rising tide buoys all ships. This is why throughout the history of our country, public health has always taken precedence over individual rights. I don’t know why people aren’t getting this now, especially when it is our children that need to be protected most at the moment.

and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity… The blessings of liberty aren’t just for us; they are for all who will come after us. What we do now has a ripple effect into the future. If we ignore these ideals in the present, they will be weakened for future generations. We must not only think of the general welfare now, but the general welfare 50, 100, or 200 years from now. All who will ever live in this great country deserve the blessings of liberty that we have received.

Okay, I said I wasn’t going to list all of them, but I only left out one. provide for the common defense… Actually, I think we’re doing pretty well with that one!

The point is this. The Declaration of Independence says we have the right to Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. This is true, as long as my rights do not infringe upon another’s. I do not have the right to take someone else’s life. Nor do I have the right to force my religious beliefs upon others. I do not have the right to drive whatever speed I choose or ignore traffic signals. I do not have the right to imprison someone in my basement in my pursuit of happiness, just because I don’t like something he did or said. These things infringe upon the rights of others so they must be tempered by the general welfare.

So when someone’s right not to get vaccinated or wear a mask infringes on my right to life, or the right to life of our children, or my liberty to freely go where I choose without fear of contracting a potentially deadly disease, those rights have to be tempered by the general welfare, as well. Likewise, if we really want to promote the general welfare, we will do what’s best for the whole, even if that means making a few adjustments to the way we behave for a little while.

We’re supposed to all be in this together, seeking a more perfect union, establishing justice, ensuring domestic tranquility, promoting the general welfare, and securing the blessings of liberty, not just for ourselves, but for all to come. When we live up these ideals, I celebrate that and give thanks to God that I was born in this wonderful country, one that isn’t perfect but is seeking to become more so. When are not living up to these ideals, however, I believe it is my patriotic duty to point that out. And friends, when it comes to our response to Covid as a nation, we are not living up to them.

Last thing – I realize that if you have made it this far, you most likely agree with what I’m saying. Maybe not, but most likely. Great. I’m glad. But how do we have this conversation with those that don’t agree in a positive way without shaming them? That’s what I’ve been pondering lately. I think the best way is to appeal to our mutual patriotism and to remind people of the Preamble to The Constitution, the reason we have these rights in the first place. I hope I can do it kindly, with love and not anger, with reason and not frustration, but I find it hard these days. I would love to hear your thoughts below.