Does this mean that God or the gods have changed? Not necessarily. What it means is that man has changed. Sometimes to the good and sometimes to the bad. Whether it be good or bad depends upon whose theoretical opinion you are accepting. The evidence or result of those changes are only available as time and history reveal the consequences of those changes. Sometimes it can be years or even centuries before we understand the full impact of those changes.

What has brought about those changes? Man’s ability to record messages that could be read and understood by someone else is probably the most important change. But, even before that, the discovery that the lever and fulcrum allowed man to overcome obstacles that limited his resources for food and shelter, as well as providing security from predators. Man has gone through the bronze age, the iron age, the invention of the printing press, the industrial revolution, unbelievable advances in visual and audio communication — the list is inexhaustible.

Where are we now in this cultural journey? We are a little over 200 years past the birth of a new nation. A nation that came about with the efforts and sacrifices of a group of political agitators who challenged the most powerful political structure of that time. They represented a conglomeration of colonies that were populated by a diverse ethnic, religious, and vocational group of people who demanded freedom from the old cultural and political structures of their European mother countries. Their first experiment in establishing a central government was failing. They were wise enough to admit they had little chance, separately, of overcoming the challenges of the wilderness and indigenous occupants of the new continent or the reassertion of the governmental powers of the old countries from which they had gained independence. After considerable and sometimes confrontational oral debate and even some threatened physical altercations, they were able to put together the central structure known as the United States of America. They designed a governing document known as The Constitution. That document outlined the parameters to limit as well as mandate the powers of that new government.

Have there been any cultural changes in society that would indicate the need for revision or changes in interpretation of the original limits and mandates of that document? From the very beginning the need of new regulations began to appear. Complex business structures demanded uniform and workable regulation. Changes in the social structures of families, communities, and local judicatories presented new challenges to the protection of individual freedoms, as well as demanding new responsibilities of members of society. At a very young age, our nation was compelled to launch a costly and disastrous civil war, that basically was caused by difference of opinion on how to interpret the original constitution as regards non voluntary servitude of a class of people. Only in the last half a century have we even begun to address the civil rights of that class of people. And, now we are being challenged to protect and enforce civil rights, medical, and economic issues facing a much larger segment of our citizens.

Will those challenges destroy our nation or will they bring us together as the challenges in the late 1700s brought together those men and women known as the ‘Patriots’ that put together our nation?

We cannot and will not survive without the coming together of a diverse representation of all religious, ethnic, and economic peoples who are willing to debate the issues with open minds and the willingness to give as much as they take. We can give a great deal before we jeopardize our own freedoms. We cannot protect our own freedom of choice and access to basic needs unless we are willing to protect that same freedom and access for others.