Latest / Voices Of Life / When Freedom Dies Series - What Does the Constitution Protect?: Religion • Speech • Assembly • Property • Individual Liberty

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When Freedom Dies Series - What Does the Constitution Protect?: Religion • Speech • Assembly • Property • Individual Liberty · Voices Of Life

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  A constitution can establish government, but
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  preserving liberty requires something more. Citizens
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  who understand freedom, institutions that respect
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  it, and generations willing to defend it. Religion,
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  assembly, individual liberty. These freedoms
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  lie at the heart of today's conversation. From
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  Voices of Life, this is the When Freedom Dies
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  series. Toad 13, what does the constitution protect?
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  Hello, my friends. I'm Pastor David. And welcome
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  once again to Voices of Life and our continuing
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  series, When Freedom Dies. Today we arrive at
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  episode 13. And today I want to ask you a question
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  that every American should be able to answer.
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  Not simply every lawyer, not simply every judge,
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  not simply every elected official, but every
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  American. The question is, what does the Constitution
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  protect? If I asked you that question tonight,
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  how would you answer? Does the Constitution protect
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  religion? Yes. Does it protect speech? Yes. Does
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  it protect peaceful assembly? Yes. Does it place
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  protections around private property? The answer
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  is yes. And does it protect individual liberty?
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  And the answer is yes. But today we need to go
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  deeper because there is another question hiding
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  behind all of those questions. Why? Why were
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  these protections considered so important? Why
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  did Americans insist upon a Bill of Rights? Why
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  limit government? And perhaps the most important
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  question in this series, what happens when a
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  nation possesses constitutional rights on paper,
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  but gradually loses respect for them in practice?
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  My friends, constitutions do not defend themselves.
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  Words written on parchment cannot walk into a
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  public square. They cannot stand behind a pulpit.
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  They cannot enter a courtroom. They cannot challenge
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  a government official. They cannot vote. They
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  cannot speak. People must do those things. And
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  that is why the constitutional liberty ultimately
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  depends upon something greater than a document.
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  It depends upon citizens who understand the document.
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  Institutions willing to honor it. Courts willing
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  to enforce it. Public officials willing to obey
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  it. And generations willing to preserve it. So
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  today, we are going to open America's constitutional
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  story. We are going to talk about religion, speech,
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  assembly, property, due process, and individual
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  liberty. But we are also going to talk about
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  responsibility. Because freedom without responsibility
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  eventually destroys itself. And government without
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  limits eventually threatens freedom. This is
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  Voices of Life. This is When Freedom Dies. And
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  this is Episode 13, What Does the Constitution
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  Protect? Let's begin. The Constitution does more
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  than create a government. When Americans talk
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  about the Constitution, we sometimes begin in
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  the wrong place. We immediately begin talking
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  about rights. And rights are enormously important.
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  But constitutions... such as ours, also does
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  something fundamental before we even reach the
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  Bill of Rights. It creates a structure of government.
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  And then it divides governmental authority. Why?
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  Because the constitutional system recognizes
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  a profound danger. Political power must not become
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  unlimited power. This is one of the themes running
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  throughout this entire When Freedom Dies series.
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  Authoritarianism rarely announces itself by saying,
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  tomorrow your freedom will disappear. It frequently
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  develops through the concentration of power.
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  One institution becomes stronger, another becomes
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  weaker. Checks and balances become inconveniences.
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  Opposition becomes obstruction. Criticism becomes
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  disloyalty. And gradually the citizen becomes
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  increasingly dependent upon the state. America's
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  constitutional structure takes another approach.
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  Power is divided. Authority is limited. Different
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  institutions have different responsibilities.
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  And then the Bill of Rights places explicit protections
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  around essential liberties. The Bill of Rights
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  consists of the first ten amendments to the Constitution
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  and protects important individual liberties while
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  also reserving undelegated powers to the states.
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  or the people. And that's an important part there
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  about the Tenth Amendment. Undelegated powers
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  are reserved for the states or the people. Think
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  about what that means. But the philosophy is
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  not government possesses all authority and generously
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  grants citizens selected freedoms. The constitutional
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  tradition instead places limits upon governmental
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  power. That distinction matters tremendously.
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  When government gives you a privilege, government
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  can define the privilege. But when constitutional
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  liberty operates from a different premise, there
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  are certain areas of human life into which government
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  cannot simply walk without constitutional restraint.
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  Your conscience matters. Your speech matters.
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  Your home matters. Your property matters. Your
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  ability to gather with others matters. Your ability
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  to challenge your government matters. Your liberty
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  matters, and today we are going to examine why.
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  Let's start with religious liberty, because that's
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  usually very important to all of us, and especially
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  me as a pastor. The First Amendment addresses
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  religion through both the Establishment Clause
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  and the Free Exercise Clause. It also protects
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  speech, the press, peaceful assembly, and petition.
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  Now think about how extraordinary this is. Faith
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  reaches into the deepest part of human identity.
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  It asks questions such as, Who is God? What does
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  God require of us? What is good? What is evil?
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  What is truth? What is our responsibility toward
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  our neighbor? What happens after this life? Those
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  are enormous questions, and government cannot
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  manufacture genuine answers to them. Authentic
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  Christian faith cannot be forced. A government
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  can force someone into a building. It can demand
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  outward conformity. It can require particular
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  language. But it cannot command genuine faith.
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  Jesus Christ never called people into a political
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  religion imposed by Caesar. The gospel calls.
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  The gospel invites. The gospel convicts. But
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  genuine faith must ultimately come from the heart.
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  That is one reason. religious liberty matters
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  so deeply. Religious freedom protects more than
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  Christians, and Christians should understand
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  this. If we insist upon freedom only when religion
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  is dominant, we misunderstand religious liberty.
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  The protection must also apply when someone believes
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  differently from us, or worships differently,
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  or chooses not to worship. Why? Because once
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  government possesses the power to determine acceptable
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  faith, the question becomes, Who controls the
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  government tomorrow? Christianity does not require
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  government coercion to demonstrate the truth
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  of Christ. We proclaim Christ. We preach Christ.
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  We teach scripture. We serve. We love our neighbors.
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  And we trust God with the results. That means
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  religious liberty is not a concession Christianity
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  makes because faith is weak. Religious liberty
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  reflects confidence that Conscience should not
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  be manufactured by political force. And history
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  repeatedly reminds us of the danger when the
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  state attempts to control the church. That is
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  why religious liberty deserves vigilance. Not
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  only from pastors, not only from churches, but
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  from every citizen. Now let's move to another
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  foundational liberty, speech. The First Amendment
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  especially protects freedom of speech and press
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  from governmental abridgment within a constitutional
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  framework. Why does speech matter? Because a
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  free society must possess mechanisms for correcting
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  itself. Think about this. Suppose government
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  adopts a bad policy. How does society challenge
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  it? Someone has to speak. Suppose someone in
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  authority abuses power. How is that exposed?
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  Someone must be able to speak. Suppose a journalist
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  discovers wrongdoing. The press must be able
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  to report. Suppose citizens believe their representatives
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  are making terrible mistakes. Citizens must be
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  able to object. Freedom of speech is especially
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  meaningful when the speech is unpopular. Popular
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  opinions rarely need constitutional courage.
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  It is dissent that tests a society's commitment
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  to freedom. That doesn't mean every statement
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  is admirable. It doesn't mean every argument
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  is correct. Free people will sometimes say foolish
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  things. They will sometimes say offensive things.
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  They will sometimes be profoundly mistaken. Freedom
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  of speech doesn't mean freedom of criticism.
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  You may speak and someone else may say you're
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  wrong. That person possesses speech too. The
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  answer to disagreement in a constitutional culture
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  should ordinarily be more argument, more discussion,
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  more persuasion, and more... Stronger ideas.
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  Not automatic censorship simply because another
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  person has challenged us. And Christians have
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  a responsibility here as well. We should not
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  merely ask, can I say this? We should also ask,
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  should I say it this way? Scripture calls Christians
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  not to merely speak, but to speak truthfully
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  and responsibly. Liberty provides opportunity.
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  Christian character determines how we use that
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  opportunity. Now imagine this nation without
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  the freedom to gather. No peaceful demonstrations,
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  no civic organizations, no community meetings,
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  no gathering of citizens demanding reform. And
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  depending upon the accompanying restrictions
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  on religious exercise, potentially enormous obstacles
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  for communities of worship. The First Amendment
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  protects the right of people peaceably to assemble
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  and to petition government for redress of their
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  grievances. The word peaceably matters. This
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  is not a constitutional endorsement of violence.
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  It is a recognition that citizens must have the
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  ability to gather together. Why? Because isolated
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  individuals possess limited influence. People
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  gathered around a common cause can become a more
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  powerful voice within civil society. Consider
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  movements throughout American history. People
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  gathered, people organized, petitioned, prayed,
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  marched, spoke. And sometimes America changed
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  because ordinary people refused to remain silent.
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  Assembly reminds us that freedom is both individual
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  and communal. You possess your own conscience,
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  but you also possess the freedom to associate
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  with others. Churches demonstrate this beautifully.
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  A church is not merely a collection of isolated
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  believers watching one another from across a
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  room. The church gathers, worships, teaches,
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  serves, prays, and matters because the community
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  matters. And authoritarian governments understand
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  something about community. People who are able
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  to gather independently of government can create
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  institutions government does not control. This
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  is precisely why civil societies matter. Families,
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  churches, charities, voluntary organizations,
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  community associations. These institutions create
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  relationships and loyalties that exist beyond
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  government itself. A healthy society needs them.
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  But we go back to the word peacefully. And peaceably
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  doing things does not mean acts of violence,
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  does not mean vandalism, theft, looting, civil
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  disobedience. That's not what that's about. Because
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  when you cross that line, you've become a criminal.
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  You're no longer a group. You're a mob. And that
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  has to be said because today we've seen this
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  more and more. And we're seeing protesters not
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  doing it out of conscience. but doing it for
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  money. People are paying people to act in their
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  stead and be their proxy. I cannot understand
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  why someone would use their influence, use their
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  bodies, use their minds as the puppet for somebody
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  paying them with money. Now we come to a liberty
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  that sometimes receives less attention, property.
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  The Bill of Rights does not treat private property
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  as meaningless. The Fourth Amendment protects
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  us against unreasonable governmental searches
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  and seizures involving persons, houses, papers,
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  and effects, while the Fifth Amendment provides
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  due process protections and states that private
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  property cannot be taken for public use without
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  just compensation. Why does property matter?
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  Because property creates a sphere of independence.
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  Your home, possessions, labor, materials, businesses,
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  your land. These affect your ability to live
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  without total dependence upon the state. Imagine
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  a society in which government could simply say,
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  we want your house, and then take it. Or, we
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  want your land, and then take it. Or, we want
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  your business, and take it. No hearing, no process,
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  no accountability, no compensation. That would
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  create enormous government power. Now, this doesn't
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  mean property exists outside all law. It doesn't.
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  Nor does constitutional law prohibit every governmental
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  taking. The Fifth Amendment itself contemplates
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  property being taken for public use, while requiring
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  just compensation. This distinction matters.
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  Constitutional liberty is not lawlessness. It's
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  freedom under law. Likewise, with due process,
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  one of the great dangers of arbitrarial government
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  is that today's lawful citizen can become tomorrow's
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  accused enemy. without meaningful procedure.
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  Due process rejects the idea that accusation
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  alone should equal guilt. Government itself must
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  follow the law. That may sound simple, but it
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  represents one of the civilization's most important
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  ideas. The state is not above the law. Now we
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  reach to the broadest idea in today's episode,
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  individual liberty. the ninth amendment states
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  that enumerating certain constitutional rights
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  should not be understood to deny other rights
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  retained by the people while the tenth reserves
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  powers not delegated to the united states nor
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  prohibited to the states to the states or the
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  people the constitution protects numerous specific
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  rights but the american constitutional tradition
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  also embodies a broader suspicion of unlimited
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  governmental authority. Human beings are not
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  simply units of government, administration. You
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  are a person. You have a conscience. You have
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  dignity. You have responsibilities. You belong
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  to families and communities, churches and voluntary
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  institutions. You possess a life that does not
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  exist solely to serve the state. And here the
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  Christian worldview adds something tremendously
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  more important. Human dignity, did not begin
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  with the Constitution. The Constitution did not
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  create humanity. Government did not create humanity.
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  From a Christian perspective, human dignity ultimately
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  comes from our Creator. Genesis tells us humanity
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  was made in the image of God. Therefore, government
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  does not determine human worth. Money does not
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  determine it. Political affiliation does not
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  determine it. Social status does not determine
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  it. Race does not determine it. Power does not
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  determine it. God gives human life dignity. And
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  that understanding should profoundly shape the
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  way Christians think about freedom. Liberty is
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  not simply, nobody can tell me what to do. That
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  is not biblical liberty. Christian freedom contains
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  responsibility. Freedom to worship. Freedom to
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  serve. Freedom to speak truth. Freedom to raise
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  our families responsibly. Freedom to help our
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  neighbors. freedom to follow conscience before
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  God. Freedom isn't merely escaping restraint.
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  Freedom is also the opportunity to pursue what
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  is good. Now we arrive at something I believe
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  our culture desperately needs to hear. Rights
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  and responsibilities must travel together. You
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  possess freedom of speech. That doesn't automatically
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  make every word wise. You possess religious liberty.
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  That doesn't mean every theological claim is
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  true. You possess property rights that doesn't
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  excuse abusing your neighbor. You possess freedom
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  of assembly that does not justify violence. You
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  possess individual liberty that does not mean
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  your choices have no consequences. A society
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  that talks endlessly about rights but forgets
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  responsibility eventually becomes unstable. Why?
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  Because constitutional government depends upon
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  self -government. And self -government, I don't
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  merely mean elections. I mean something deeper.
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  The ability to govern ourselves. Our appetites,
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  anger, ambitions, our impulses. Our desire for
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  revenge. Our hunger for political victory. The
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  fewer restraints we possess internally, the more
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  restraints society will eventually demand externally.
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  Character matters to freedom. Truth matters to
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  freedom. Responsibility matters to freedom. Family
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  matters. Faith matters. Community matters. This
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  is why maintaining liberty involves more than
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  winning elections. A nation can maintain elections
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  and still become culturally hostile to liberty.
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  Freedom has to be practiced, taught, defended,
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  and handed to the next generation. And now we
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  return to the central question behind this entire
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  series. When freedom dies. Sometimes dramatically.
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  Sometimes a dictator closes parliament. Sometimes
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  an opposition movement is outlawed. Sometimes
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  the press is seized. Sometimes religious institutions
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  are directly attacked. But freedom can also weaken
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  gradually. Citizens stop paying attention. Principles
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  become partisan weapons. People defend constitutional
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  protections for friends, but question them for
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  enemies. Institutions become politicized. Government
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  accumulates more power. Individuals accept restrictions
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  because the restrictions initially affect somebody
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  else. And slowly the culture that sustains constitutional
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  freedom weakens. My friends, here is the danger.
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  If I defend freedom of speech only for people
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  who agree with me, I have not fully defended
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  freedom of speech. If I defend religious liberty
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  only for my own denomination, I have misunderstood
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  religious liberty. If I defend due process only
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  when someone I admire is accused, I have misunderstood
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  due process. And if I oppose government overreach
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  only when the opposing political party governs,
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  then constitutional principle has become political
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  convenience. Principles are tested when protecting
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  them costs us something. That is when we discover
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  whether we truly believe in them. Let us close
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  with this today. The Constitution is an extraordinarily
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  important document. But no document can substitute
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  for character. No amendment can force citizens
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  to love liberty. No judicial opinion can create
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  virtue in the heart of a human. No legislature
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  can manufacture wisdom. And no election can replace
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  personal responsibility. America needs citizens
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  who understand freedom. But America also needs
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  people worthy of freedom. People who can disagree
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  without hatred. People who can debate without
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  violence. People who can worship without coercion.
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  People who can possess without exploiting. People
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  who understand that liberty and responsibility
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  belong together. And Christians should be among
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  those people. Jesus said in John 8 verse 32,
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  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
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  make you free. Political liberty and spiritual
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  freedom are not identical. The Constitution cannot
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  save the human soul. America cannot save the
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  human soul. Politics cannot save the human soul.
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  Jesus Christ saves. But because we have been
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  called to love our neighbors, we should care
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  about the society in which our neighbors live.
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  We should care about justice. We should care
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  about truth. We should care about religious liberty.
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  We should care about freedom of speech. We should
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  care about due process. We should care about
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  peaceful assembly. We should care about the protection
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  of property. And we should care about individual
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  liberty. Not because America is our God. It is
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  not. But because human beings possess dignity.
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  before God. So remember this. Freedom really
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  disappears all at once. It can be surrendered
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  one exception at a time, one silence at a time,
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  one compromise at a time, one generation at a
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  time. And that is why every generation must learn
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  once again what freedom means. Know your constitution.
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  Know your history. Know your rights. Respect
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  the rights of your neighbor. Fulfill your responsibilities.
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  Watch those entrusted with power. and above everything
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  else, know the God from whom our ultimate hope
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  comes. I'm Pastor David, and this has been Voices
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  of Life, a ministry of the Church for Life. Thank
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  you for joining me for episode 13 of our series,
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  When Freedom Dies. Until next time, stand for
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  truth, defend liberty, walk humbly, love your
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  neighbor, and keep your faith. firmly anchored
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  in Jesus Christ. God bless you, and may God guide
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  the United States of America.