Please discuss, in 600-800 words, the fundamental questions that the Founding Fathers wrestled with before they wrote up the Constitution.
This is the blog topic for this week.
The Founding Fathers had to research all previous governments, ask why they failed, and ask why and in what manner they succeeded. The Founding Fathers had to research all previous governments, ask why they failed, and ask why and in what manner they succeeded. They asked the question, “What does an ideal government do? What are the characteristics of an ideal government?” Well, an ideal government is fair, it protects its people, and it keeps public order. It is a government that has the best interests of the people at heart. The ideal government is wise, reasonable, efficient, compassionate, moderate, and helpful. When he asked us in class about to think about these questions moderate was not one of the adjectives I came up with, but hearing it made total sense. After all, within the Gospel, such as through the Word of Wisdom, we are taught moderation in all things. It only makes sense that the ideal government would be so as well. That word gives me another standard by which to base my judgement of our government today and whereby to construct my political leanings. Although I should remember that moderate in the way of the world and moderate in the way of God are not the same thing most of the time.
They also asked the question, “What about real world experience with governments?” What they were met with there was not so hearts-and-flowersy. Most, if not all of the world’s governments, have become tyrannical, invasive, and aggressive. There has been genocide and ethnic cleansing. Obviously, the ideal government does not match reality. So the founding fathers had to look at existent and previous government. There they found the circle of the human predicament. At the top of the circle is tyranny, then comes revolution, then anarchy at the bottom, and from anarchy comes competing groups, which goes into tyranny again. In studying these governments, they found that even in tyranny some people do benefit, which goes to show that any form of government is better than anarchy. I personally found this to be a very interesting concept. So, of course, the Founding Fathers concluded that they must have a government either way, but, much like the true church, the best earthly government was not nor had even been created on the earth at that time. So the founding fathers had to grapple with these three concepts: Government, Freedom, and Human Nature. The Founding Fathers took into account the humanity of our race, and with that to rein them in, set out to establish the ideal government for this earth. (One girl in the class brought up an interesting theory in her Just and Holy Principles paper: that the United States government as laid out by the Founding Fathers is in preparation for the government of Jesus Christ.) This government would be one that expands freedom, takes into account human nature, doesn’t give government absolute power. As one European author put it: “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely.” They realized that in order to keep the government officials from having too much power, there had to be the concept of the rule of law, which means that the people are ruled by a law, rather than by a personality. I also thought that concept, although very simple, was very sweet. It’s concepts like that, simple but sweet, that help me to recognize how truly enlightened these men, of different opinions and different backgrounds, were.
Wow, these posting assignments just keep getting longer and longer. I hope next week's post doesn't climb to 700-850 words.
At the dinner table scene (which is the first time we see much of Adams in the film) I liked how Adams was portrayed because even though I'd never imagined Adams specifically it seemed to me that was exactly how Adams was. Paul Giamatti plays him with such naturality you don't even question him as a believable Adams. It made me smile to see Benjamin Franklin's spectacles, and many times throughout the movie he made me laugh. I didn't realize he was such an eccentric chracter, although having known he wanted the turkey. to be the nation bird... I shoulda known. Dr. Holzapfel emphasized many times how the Founding Fathers had to buy their time for independence, and it seemed like Benjamin Franklin was the orchestrator of that. John Dickinson, in his first speech, didn't seem as eloquent and polite as Adams said he was. His accent was also really weird. I don't think the actor they picked for John Dickinson really did him justice, because in reading "John Adams" I really felt a lot of sympathy for him and I could feel how much he was respected and what a great guy he was, even though he did support reconciliation. I also think that he was the one who said the "s" word during a talk in Congress, which I think no one would have said in Congress, much less John Dickinson, being the venerable and eloquent lawyer he was. I was disappointed with that.
I very much appreciated how throughout the film it showed Abigail often, because that was definitely a window onto Adams himself. Abigail was very important to him, and it wouldn't have properly shown the man he was without giving her and the family the screentime she was given. I really identified with her opinions and thoughts. I think she was probably even more frustrated with Congress than Adams was, because she knew all that was going on, but, being a woman, could not have a voice in Congress.
I noticed the camera angles were very real and at first I was bothered by the backs of heads in the frame partially blocking main characters and such, but then I realized they were shooting it like a live, on-the-scene documentary. This really contributed to the reality of the story to me.
It was great to see Adams have such human emotions after he sees the soldiers wounded from Conchord. When you think of John Adams you think of all the lofty words he spoke and the stirring way he spoke and the ideals he stood for, but you don't often picture his face, picture his eyes wet with tears, picture the love in his eyes for his wife and family. It was funny because in watching this movie Adams seemed more human and at the same time greater than before.
Although I'm sure I read it in this class before, I didn't realize exactly how important Virginia was in the negotiations. I also didn't realize how tall George Washington was. I thought his character was PERFECT. His face wasn't good-looking, but his voice was so leadership-filled; he sounded like Liam Neeson, and we all know if Liam Neeson asked us to do something we'd do it right away, and that's probably how George Washington was too. I liked how he said he felt he wasn't equal to the task, because I think all great leaders have though that, which is why they didn't get power-hungry and become corrupted. The interchange between Jefferson and Adams when Jefferson asked him the write the Declaration, and then the meeting of the Committee afterward was very moving and funny at the same time. It felt so real to me, because a lot of the time that's how life is, moving and great one moment, surpring the next, and then totally hilarious the next. I appreciated how they focused on John Adams and how when he was fighting for independence Benjamin Franklin told him that he seemed "quite carried out of himself". It really helps the audience to recognize God's hand in this and to recognize the Spirit's influence on him and on the other members of Congress.
I was very grateful for the chance to blog about this because there were a lot of things during our tour I didn’t get to say.
Putting the tour aside for a moment, I really liked the scripture (Moses 6:63) at the beginning of the pamphlet, which talked about how all things, both temporal and spiritual, are made to bear record of Heavenly Father. I’ve always been a big fan of looking to nature and to natural processes and seeing how nothing but God could have a played a role in their creation. I own the series Planet Earth and it’s just incredible to learn about all the stuff that goes on in nature and all of the beautiful beautiful sights. I don’t understand how there could be such beauty in the world on accident, not to mention how everything works out and how most of nature is so dependent on light, just how we as humanity should be dependent on the light of Christ.
At the beginning of the tour there was a sculpture called “God steadying the Ark”. Even though we didn’t talk about hat sculpture, I had my eye on and it was one of my favorites. I loved the style of the piece and I just loved the tender expression on God’s face and how he cuddled the ark in his arms. The Daily Bread painting was interesting. I liked learning about what the different colors represented. I wanted to ask if there was any specific reason geraniums were used, but then I figured it was because they are a pretty humble flower. In the pamphlet it doesn’t say anything about a geranium being a humble flower but it does say something about fragrance, which I thought was weird because geraniums smell disgusting. I also wondered what the significance was of the woman looking so masculine; her hair was short and she didn’t really have any curves.
The painting by Man of Sorrows by Christopher Young I thought was really beautiful. I was surprised because the wood on the cross actually looked like beautiful wood, and Jesus looked in peak condition,. This surprised me just because a lot of the other paintings of his bare chest show him to be very bony and skeletal oftentimes. I know other members of the class treated his muscles with skepticism, but it is in the Word of Wisdom that we should exercise, and Jesus was a carpenter, so I don’t see why it is unreasonable for him to have a great physique, but I do understand that maybe he wasn’t quite so “modelesque” in real life. Also, before the lady mentioned that a violinist thought that he looked like he was holding an instrument, I thought, “Wow, he looks like he’s holding the cross like a violin,” but I didn’t say it because I don’t actually play the violin and didn’t want someone to think “Uh, actually no it’s not”. But then she said that and I was like, “Sweet”.
My other favorite painting was the one with the red and white fabrics on the chairs. I thought a lot of really good comments were made about it. I liked how it was hard to tell exactly where the floor was and how the lower chair was tipped over. It was beautiful how the white fabric was just illuminated and how the red was reflected in the white fabric. It was just a really cool painting.
Sober Expectations
It is interesting to me that in the second line of his speech, Martin Diamond references Abraham Lincoln’s words, which include the phrase “devotion to principle”. In reading the Just and Holy Principles book, the prophets and apostles talk a LOT about principles, as does Dr. Holzapfel. Martin Diamond says that the Revolution was only really half a revolution because the makers of the American Revolution did not think themselves in possession of complete truth ready to be immediately used in government. As part of their sober expectations, they claimed possession of only half the truth, which was the truth about equal freedom being the foundation of all political society. Bluntly and casually said, it was so smart of them to recognize their limitations and to “limit the dangerous passions of the revolution” only to the destruction of the British government, and to leave the building up of the entirely new government to a later time when they could further peruse literature and ponder at more of a leisurely pace. It took eleven years, from 1776 to 1787, to construct a government.
I really admire the Founding Fathers, for it seems they thought of everything. I try hard to be prepared and to think of everything, and like it sounds, it’s not easy. Especially when “everything” consists of creating an entirely new government in an infant land. They knew the founding of a nation was not to be rushed, not to be a show for feverish colonists, not to be a quick parade of cleverness before Britain. Their sober expectations built the foundation and government of America strong and sure. As Diamond points out, a full revolution would have been “revolving” that is, a transfer of power from one to another, but the Declaration of Independence instead pledged the power of the new nation to an abstract principle, freedom. As no other society before had had such sober expectations, no other government turned out like ours.
Although devotion to an abstract principle may not at first sound like a good idea, as tyrannical societies have also been focused in their revolutions on abstract principles, liberty is a principle that can actually very possibly be achieved, whereas utopian equality and fraternity are impossible dreams. This reinforces to me the idea of the importance involved in setting realistic but magnificent goals, not only in politics and government, but in our own personal lives as well. After all, it’s all about principles, and the principles that were used to set up the American democracy, in their unadulterated form, seem to me to also be helpful in our own personal lives. Harking back to Just and Holy Principles, I don’t think such men of God would have admonished and advised us so many times to read and know and love the principles of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence if they weren’t for some use to us as individuals.
A point that Diamond made that I thought was very gripping was this: “Contrary to our too complacent modern perspective regarding democracy, which assumes that a government cannot be decent unless democratic, our Founding Fathers more … soberly, were concerned how to make this new government decent even though democratic.” Again, the Founding Fathers were sober. They didn’t hail this new democracy as the best thing ever and the only way to do things and the only right and true government out of all the world, and wow everyone else is an idiot for doing things their way, rather they gradually moved toward democracy and ended up there. Once there, they made sure there was balance enough for the nation not to collapse. Their expectations sober, their ideals pensive and pure, the Founding Fathers built this country under God in a way unequaled, before or since.
I really appreciate us going through the Declaration of Independence in class. My professor, Dr. Holzapfel, or Bro. H as the TAs affectionately call him, was very genuine and powerful when he took us through a discussion and reading of the Declaration of Independence.
We read a draft of the Declaration of Independence and we learned that Jefferson initially wrote it condemning slavery, and blaming Britain for it. Now this is a very interesting thing to me, because Jefferson himself owned slaves and believed in the inferiority of the black race. However, he was always very much concerned with the stability of the nation, and in his mind slavery would not contribute. Although his other thoughts on slavery were flawed, this one was certainly correct. It's another testimony to me that although the Founding Fathers were not perfect, they were inspired to do what they did.
In the final version of Declaration of Independence it is written that all are created equal and all have certain rights. Although individuals having certain rights was not a new concept, the idea that governments should be organized to protect those rights was a new concept. The Declaration says that any government that doesn't protect those rights is wrong. Notice, it does not specify what kind of government, whether democracy, republic, theocracy, whatever. It just states in this document deemed inspired by the apostles and prophets of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that any government that doesn't protect those rights is wrong. The Founding Fathers were inspired to identify principles that could be used in other governments.
The Declaration also states that if the government does not protect those rights, the people have the right, nay, the duty, to rebel. This is interesting to me from a Gospel perspective because even though one of our Articles of Faith says that we believe in being subject to kings, rulers, and magistrates in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law, the Declaration and the Church, by supporting the Declaration and through other mediums, support rebellion when it comes to standing up for one’s rights. For example, those in Nazi Germany who hid Jews and ran underground newspapers and such, although not obeying the laws of Germany at the time, were certainly obeying a higher law. It should be duly noted that it’s not like I needed this knowledge of the Declaration of Independence to legitimize the Resistance for me, but it does reinforce and strength my support and love for those who gave their lives and saved lives throughout the inhumanity of that time.
I just watched a video of Jasmine Star, an incredible wedding photographer, and her husband JD, who shoots with her. They were at Disneyland with two friends, Amy and David Wenzel, and afterwards Amy made them a video documenting JD and Jasmine specifically throughout their day at Disneyland. For some reason this video touched me a lot and I actually strongly considered commenting on the video, even though Jasmine gets hundreds of comments on each post she makes and surely does not have time to read them all.
But this video really made me reflect on attitude and what a big difference it makes in a person. I have a hard time having a great attitude all the time, probably for a lot of reasons. One reason is that I strive for the best and if the circumstances aren't the best, rather than making the best of them, I get bummed because they aren't the best. Or when I do bust my butt trying to make the best of what I've been given it still falls short. Also, I don't like smiling unless I'm laughing a lot because I have really big cheeks and smiling makes my face look even fatter. But this video made me think about which is worse- smiling and looking fat (neither Jasmine nor JD do, btw) or not allowing yourself to smile and missing out on happiness- and therefore on life? Plus, if I were happier, it would probably be much easier to be skinnier because I would be more inclined to be more active and not waste calories eating junk because I would feel better and have more self-confidence and drive to actively push myself away from that stuff.
Jasmine is always inspirational, and I am constantly amazed by her infinite LOVE of life and her jaw-droppingly attractive personality and attitude. But it took seeing Jasmine, as well as her and JD's relationship, through Amy's eyes to make me realize the absolute need for change in my life.
Okay, Goals...
- Smile more!
- Don't eat sweets. I'm stronger than them!
- Build myself up more.
- Be more patient and more loving with Kevin. He's so incredible and works SO HARD.
- Compliment Kevin to other people more. To avoid mushiness I try not to accolade him in front of other people, especially those who are single, but too often I tend to go to an extreme and publish what I'm annoyed with that he's done in the moment, NOT trying to be mean about it, but just- feeling the need to let the frustration out in a way other than letting it out on him. But now I know I can be grown-up enough to move beyond the complaining-to-others-as-to-not-criticize-the-person-who-did-it stage to the give-him-compliments-to-his-face-as-well-as-to-others stage. Not that I don't compliment him to his face, because I certainly do, but I can always improve upon that and I can definitely improve by keeping my mouth shut about what I'm bothered about and one-upping that by praising him to others. He so deserves it.
- Try not to be personally and permanently wounded when someone would rather do such and such than hang out with me. Variety is the spice of life!
I really, really, love my job at the Foreign Language Activity Center. And I double love my job as a private Pilates instructor. But sometimes I wish I could get out from behind a desk and teach Pilates more often, as well as be a professional...
- Pilates Instructor
- Williams-Sonoma employee
- Sea World as a dolphin or orca trainer
- Photographer, particularly of weddings
- Wolf sanctuary employee
- Translator
- Interior Designer
- Costco spokeswoman
- Personal Shopper
- Massage Therapist
- Spa hostess
- Celebrity Assistant
- Food Critic
- Scent critic
- Stablehand
- Casting agent
- Nanny abroad
- Stager (someone who stages homes so that they sell faster)
Now, what about Kevin? I could see him as a...
- Spy
- Cosmo
- Librarian
- Cheese critic
- Butler
- Mythbusters team member
- Gardening store employee
- Summer camp counselor
- Post production film team member