Day 103: It's not the topic, it's the criteria

As time passes and more thought is given, the anger starts to build.

My friend sent me a text a few days ago:

I was pretty neutral about it - a stark change from just a handful of years ago. Then I began researching and the pot began to simmer.

I read an article from The Globe and Mail, a Canadian news outlet, stating how Justice Alito takes the rear view mirror approach, for essentially everything, in asking:

Was there an abortion right in previous times, such as when the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868?

The article goes on to quote: “He’s looking back to a historical period when women are denied the vote and, more generally, almost any legal rights,” Prof. Hasday* said. “And he’s saying that’s what the Constitution is embedding for all time.”
*Jill Hasday, the Distinguished McKnight University Professor and Centennial Professor of Law at the University of Minnesota Law School.

In Learning Adventures, U.S. Constitution: 1787-1789 - it states:

The Constitution of the United States is the foundation of our Federal Government. It is often called the supreme law of the land; no law may be passed that contradicts its principles. At the same time, it is flexible and allows for changes in the Government. The Constitution is known as a “living” document because it can be amended, although in over 200 years there have only been 27 amendments.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE IN OVER 200 YEARS THERE HAVE ONLY BEEN 27 AMENDMENTS?!

Are we all dead?! This is supposed to be a LIVING document, isn't it?! 

So what gives?

Well, that's just it - there isn't any agreement on if the constitution is a living document or not. 

There is no line written that explicitly states, "this constitution is a living document." Which, to Justice Alito and other Originalist politicians, gives the green light for keeping and enforcing outdated ways of thinking and governing.

And until there is agreement - or an amendment establishing such - we will continue finding ourselves in these distressing and heated situations, no matter what the topic.

Our struggle as a nation really isn't the topic (at any given time), it's the criteria that's being used to assess it.