I mentioned in an earlier blog that I may have some crystallized thoughts regarding the constitution by Thanksgiving. I have listed below the documents that have caused me to ponder the most. The firs is a commencement address given last May. I have included a link to the site since it is to long to list here.

http://www.claytonchristensen.com/documents/SNHUCommencementtalk-DemocracyCapitalismandReligion.pdf

The day after I read the above article, I heard the following story on the radio as I drove to work. I have copied the last section of that article.

'A Culture Of Illegality'

In recent years, Italy has recorded among the highest levels of tax evasion among Western countries and the largest number of serving members of Parliament found guilty of criminal offenses.

In a recent report, the state accounts court said corruption in the public administration is so vast that it is preventing the country's economic development and eroding the public's faith in government.

Rolando Patarca, a fisherman who is also a part-time chef and political activist, is demoralized by the society he sees around him.

"A culture of illegality has taken hold. We no longer have an ethical role model. We no longer want to follow the rules and respect the law and the constitution. We are in disarray, and we have given up. We have lost sight of our basic civil rights," Patarca says.

Berlusconi is fond of saying, "Italians like me the way I am."

Through two decades of TV dominance, many analysts say he has, in fact, reshaped Italian culture and values into his own image.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111513125

Finally I ran across this paragraph which is the final paragraph of an article in the encyclopedia of Mormonism onabout the constitution. I think these three documents seem to illustrate an important point.

To defend the principles of the Constitution under circumstances where the "iniquity," or moral decay, of the people has torn it to shreds might well require wisdom at least equal to that of the men raised up to found it. In particular, it would require great insight into the relationship between freedom and virtue in a political embodiment of moral agency.

http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Constitution_of_the_United_States_of_America