Larry P. Arnn, president of Hillsdale College in Michigan wrote The
Founders' Key wrote this book to explain the ongoing constitutional
debates to lay people. His main point is that the Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence are not opposing documents, but are
expressions of the same principle - namely that people are below God and
this includes people associated with the government. Both documents are
the foundations of nations, two pillars that ensure liberties and
rights of individuals. The author goes on to argue that in modern times
the constitutional debate has gone into the direction of finding the
constitution outdated and interpreting the Declaration of Independence
to ensure new rights for people that were never part of the original
draft nor intended by the drafters.
This had led to a weakening of
the meaning and importance of both documents in our current political
discussion and has led people to believe that these documents must be
read in a way that the drafters according to Arnn never intended them to
be read.
This book, despite being focused on constitutional law and
interpretation, is certainly appropriate for non-lawyers to read and can
be enjoyable for any adult interested in politics and individual
rights.
I would recommend that people set aside some time to read
this book since I had to go back and reread certain sections. If you are
more familiar with constitutional law and the discussions dealt with in
the book, it may be easier. But I would recommend reading one chapter
at a time to make sure that the material really sinks in.
Disclaimer: This book was provided free of charge through the Booksneeze program in return for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this blog entry are solely my own.
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