in all points conform to his maker’s
will. This will of his maker is called
the law of nature. . . . when [God]
created man, and endued him with
freewill to conduct himself in all
parts of life, he laid down certain
immutable laws of human nature,
whereby that freewill is in some degree regulated and restrained, and
gave him also the faculty of reason to
discover the purport of those laws.
This law of nature, being coeval
(meaning originating or existing in
the same time) with mankind and
dictated by God himself, is of course
superior in obligation to any other—
it is binding over all the globe in all
countries, and at all times; no human laws are of any validity, if contrary to this: and such of them as are
valid derive all their force, and all
their authority, mediately (meaning
Recently, we received this question from
a reader:
“Sometimes I think that the only
way a change for the better will come
is to overhaul our government. I think
I learned that is possible to do legally
with a Constitutional Convention. Is
this so? But then I realize that the state
of the American people is such that we
probably wouldn’t come up with a better idea but a worse one.”
Here is our answer:
The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine for-
warded to us your question about the
possibility of a Constitutional Con-
vention. We are happy to respond.
Your question actually contained its
own answers. Yes, it is possible for a
Constitutional Convention to change
the nature of our U.S. government.
And no, that would not be a good idea,
because the outcome would likely be
worse rather than better.
The best news is that it is homeschoolers rather than a Constitutional Convention who could save
America. The problem really is that
too many Americans do not understand the beauty and wisdom of our
constitutional form of government.
Too many people do not really even
understand how the Constitution was
set up to work, because our American
public schools no longer teach that
. . . The Laws of
Nature refer to
God’s unchanging
principles established
at Creation, while the
laws of Nature’s God
refer to the Bible.
dependent on an intervening agency) or immediately, from this original. Upon these two foundations,
the law of nature and the law of revelation, depend all human laws; that
is to say, no human laws should be
suffered to contradict these.
information to students. Instead, our
public schools are tending to teach students that our Constitution is flawed
and that socialism is a better option.
The fact of the matter is that one of
the biggest problems of the U.S. government today is that it is no longer
working as our Founders intended.
Our current President, Barack Obama,
has openly stated that he believes the
Constitution is flawed because it states
only what the federal government is
not permitted to do, rather than stating
what the federal government should
do to help citizens. President Obama is
in that camp that advocates a socialist
model rather than a constitutional form
of government.
Therefore, we must count on those
students who are currently being edu-
cated at home or in Christian schools
to learn what the Constitution actu-
ally says, to learn why this Constitution
provides the best form of government
ever invented on earth, and to learn
how America can get back to following
the Constitution so that we can become
a powerful and compassionate nation
once again—a nation that is again able
to lead the world to freedom rather
than to follow the world into a new
form of socialist slavery. It is important
to remember that the Constitution is
not complete without also having an
understanding of the Declaration of
Thus, the “Laws of Nature” are God’s
unwritten laws implanted in man at the
time of creation. They are God’s general
revelation in nature (see Romans 1: 18–
20). The laws of “Nature’s God” are His
written laws revealed for us in Scripture.
Attorney David C. Gibbs III has represented Americans across the country in issues of life and liberty. For twenty years he
served as general counsel at the Christian
Law Association and is the current president of the National Center for Life and
Liberty ( www.ncll.org and www.home
schoollegaladvantage.com), with offices
in Texas, Florida, and Washington, D.C.
Mr. Gibbs is the father of four children and
husband to Mrs. Carin Gibbs.
Independence. As someone has said, if
you look at the nation as a corporation,
the Declaration is America’s Articles of
Incorporation, while the Constitution
is its Bylaws. In any corporation, the
Bylaws may never contradict the Articles of Incorporation. It is those two
documents taken together that have
brought greater freedom to individuals than ever before in history. And it is
those two documents that must continue to be taught to our children so that
they can preserve that liberty given to
America by God and to pass the understanding of that liberty along to other
nations of the world.
Bottom line: There is nothing wrong
with our nation’s Constitution; however, there is something wrong with
our nation today—but nothing that a
greater understanding of our Constitution and its foundational principles and
values would not be able to fix. We need
a Constitutional Academy, where the
basis for freedom can be taught to our
next generation of citizens, not a Constitution Convention to undermine the
wisdom of our Founders.
Thank you for asking such an important question.
Sincerely,
Attorney David C. Gibbs III and the attorneys at The National Center for Life
and Liberty
www.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com