To the Editor-

Many Democrats now refer to themselves as Progressives. If you understand the ideas behind progressivism, this is probably a more fitting term.

The progressive movement began in the 19th century with Teddy Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and greatly advanced by FDR and LBJ, along with current administrations. The progressives feel that the principles of the American founding expressed in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are outdated and are unable to address the complexity of modern life. Therefore the Constitution needs to be reinterpreted in light of current conditions.

Wilson, in his 1911 writings, stated that the preface of the Declaration of Independence should be ignored. The preface of the Declaration is that portion that states, “All men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

With the progressive movement the preface is replaced with the idea that the only rights a person has are those granted by a “more enlightened” government.

This reinterpretation helps explain why we now see the current abortion rulings by the progressive members of the Supreme Court, where an unborn child has no right to life because he/she is human, but the child only has a right to life when the mother says it does.

Although the Constitution says absolutely nothing about same-sex marriage (according to the dissenting opinion), the progressive members of the Court felt that, if the Founders were living now, they would have included something like this.

With this progressive thought the rights of liberty explicitly stated in the Bill of Rights are also under assault.

Freedom of religion is challenged by Obamacare’s demands that citizens must purchase insurance that includes coverage for abortion. Hilary Clinton states that people with deeply held religious views need to change their views and come in line with her liberal views on abortion. Freedom of speech in challenged in “safe spaces” on college campuses. People lose their jobs or are denied employment because of Facebook comments or their views on climate change or evolution. And, of course, the Second Amendment right to bear arms has been under attack for a long time.

Looking at the federal government now, one can see that the nation has moved a far distance from the Founders’ original intent.

Curtis Beversdorf
Plover