"Tear it down and start over" has been a figurative phrase I've used for a few years now, since about the middle of the last Bush administration. I mentioned it to the leaders of our church recently when we gathered for breakfast to discuss church business.

"Tear it down and start over" implies that the current government no longer abides by nor recognizes its charter, the Constitution of the United States of America. In fact, with the exception of the Reagan and Ford admnistrations, EVERY presidential administration since (and including) Woodrow Wilson has committed specific violations AGAINST the Constitution, most of them in full knowledge of the violations.

To be sure, Lincoln himself violated the Constitution also, as did some other presidents prior to and following him. But the 20th and 21st centuries have been marred by a painful consistency in the antagonism of the executive branch's submission to the ultimate law of the land.

Individuals no longer fulfill nor recognize their responsibilities as citizens (in large part because those repsonsibilities were spiritual expressions first, and then translated to political expressions . . . but that's a discussion for another day). Each day, we slip one measure closer to balkanization, anarchy or worse.

In an effort to forstall this tragedy, it is my belief that a reformed United States under a new-but similiar constitution be discussed beginning in the year 2014. A constitutional convention, under the current model, would allow us to maintain continuity between the Founding Father's ideals and the challenges we have created for ourselves.

There are certainly dangers present in such a proposition. If we enter these discussions as idealogues rather than as Americans intent upon saving something great and wonderful, then we expose ourselves to the collapse of the nation anyway. If one group attempts to dominate - or another group fails to stand for its principles - then we will have as weak or a weaker charter than the one which we are attempting to improve. These dangers, however, are not greater than the danger of not trying. We may end up having a splintered, factionalized group of nations occupying the North American continent. But if we fail to save this nation because we imagined nothing was broken, then that future will be far worse than if we try together and fail.

A wise man has suggested to me that the dangers of a constitutional convention are too great. Like many, he has seen the potential for disaster if the circumstances I have described above (and worse, perhaps) arise during such an effort. One of the fundamental problems with such a position, however, is that it is based in fear. To be sure, it is not an unreasonable fear - but it is a fear nonetheless.

Evil thrives in an atmosphere of fear. Our Founder's knew this. They fought against fear most of their lives, and against an enemy that utilized fear as a weapon. We cannot - MUST not - allow our fear of outcomes or failures to paralyze us from trying to save something glorious, nor from trying to build something even more grand than this nation. Because something like that does exist. It is called the Kingdom of Heaven. And the United States of America has been the greatest tool so far for bringing the conditions of that Empire to earth. It is time to take the next step in our growth and toward that Kingdom.

Theodore Roosevelt, ironically a president who himself violated the Constitution on an occasion or two, recognized that windows for opportunity do not last forever. While his actions may not have always been pure nor right, Teddy recognized that acting when there was an opportunity was absolutely crucial to a successful life and a successful nation.

"In a time of action," he once said, "the best thing to do is the right thing. The next best thing to do is the wrong thing. The worst thing to do is nothing."

"I blame Conservatives - ourselves - myself.

"Our failure . . . is the failure of the Conservative demonstration. Though we know that Conservatism holds the key to national salvation - and feel sure the country agrees with us - we seem unable to demonstrate the practical relevance of conservative prinicples to the needs of the day. We sit impotently while Congress seeks to improvise solutions to problems that are not the real problems facing the country, while the government attempts to assuage imagined concerns and ignores the real concerns and real needs of the people.

"Perhaps we suffer from an over-sensitivity to the judgments of those who rule the mass communications media. We are daily consigned by 'enlightened' commentators to political oblivion; Conservatism, we are told, is out of date. The charge is preposterous and we ought boldly to say so. The laws of God and nature have no dateline. The principles upon which the Conservative political position is based have been established by a process that has nothing to do with the social, economic and the political landscape that changes from decade to decade and from century to century. These principles are derived from the nature of man, and from the truths that God has revelead about His creation.

"Circumstances do change. So do the problems that are shaped by circumstances. But the principles that govern the solutions of the problems do not change. To suggest that the Conservative philosophy is out of date is akin to saying that the Golden Rule, or the Ten Commandments or Aristotle's Politics are out of date. The conservative approach is nothing more or less than an attempt to apply the wisdom and experience and the revealed truths of the past to the problems of today. The challenge is not to find new or different truths, but to learn how to apply established truths to the problems of a contemporary world. My hope is that one more Conservative voice will be helpful in meeting this challenge."

- Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-AZ), The Conscience of a Conservative, 1964. Goldwater was nominated as the Republican candidate for President of the United States and ran against the newly-sworn in Democrat President Lyndon Johnson, who took over after John Kennedy's assassination. Goldwater was introduced at the national convention by a newcomer to Republican politics, Screen Actor's Guild union president Ronald Reagan.