LeAnne Hardy, author and editor
  • Home
  • BIO
  • My Books
    • Children's and Young Adult
    • Historical Fiction
    • Non-fiction
  • Blog
  • Editorial Services

My ​Times and Places
​


​​

But That's Unconstitutional!

6/28/2013

1 Comment

 
PictureThe police take away our neighbor for questioning
after searching his home. (February 1977)
The summer of 1976 my husband and I arrived in Ethiopia to teach at the Good Shepherd School for missionary children. Not only was that year the two hundredth anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence; it was also a time of major political upheaval in Ethiopia.  Emperor Haile Selassie had been deposed in 1974. The new government was a militaristic version of Marxism ruled by “the Derg,” or committee. Three coups occurred the year we were there. The last brought Lt. Col. Mongistu Haile Mariam to sole power. His government patterned itself after early Chinese Communism. 


It was in Ethiopia that I learned most about the sovereignty of God. I don’t know how many times that year, I would hear of something happening, and my immediate reaction was, “They can’t do that! That’s uncon...” “Unconstitutional” I was starting to say, only to realize that my American constitution had no impact on the lives of my Ethiopian neighbors.

We Americans tend to take our rights and freedoms for granted. We assume that newscasters can criticize the government, that the police will not search our homes or make us “disappear,” that politicians represent the people and are not in office to get rich. The rest of the world does not have those assurances.

Picture
Juliette Turner’s book Our Constitution Rocks (Zondervan 2012) is designed to plunge young Americans into the workings of our constitution, but it can be a wake up call for all ages.

Warning: This book is addictive! All those little sidebars of fascinating information make it hard to put down. Juliette Turner (who is fourteen years old, BTW!) looks at each article and section of the American Constitution, puts it in simpler words we can understand and points out what difference it makes to twenty-first-century American democracy. She’s comparing us to eighteenth-century Europe and the failures of the short-lived Articles of Confederation, not to 1970s and 80s Ethiopia, but the book makes me grateful for a system of checks and balances that has stood for 225 years! Turner often features direct quotes from the Founding Fathers, showing their debates. I was amazed at how many of their concerns reflect issues that are still with us today.

Turner defines terms, explains what the Framers were thinking and why I should care today. I was amused at her suggestion that C-span fills the role of the original Congressional Record put out by privately-owned transcript businesses, while the official record allowed (allows?) members to “edit” and “clarify” what they said before it went to print. The “How Can I Make a Difference?” section with its follow-up activities for research is a trove of potential assignments for teachers and homeschooling families.

Frankly, I expected a right-wing agenda to this book. For the most part, the author tries to keep a non-partisan point-of-view, showing us the issues and how they work out in modern life. Only occasionally are personal opinions expressed, but the tone of the book invites investigation and coming to your own conclusions. 

We left Ethiopia in 1977 when Good Shepherd School closed at the end of that school year. The country suffered under Mongistu for seventeen more years. Even today they struggle with major political, spiritual and economic issues. I still believe in the sovereignty of God. I’m still grateful to be protected by the American constitution. 

[I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.]
1 Comment
LeAnne
1/8/2015 06:10:58 am

This post was moved from another site. All comments were lost.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    LeAnne Hardy has lived in six countries on four continents. Her books come out of her cross-cultural experiences and her passion to use story to convey spiritual truths in a form that will permeate lives.

    RSS Feed

    Add http://www.leannehardy.net/1/feed to your RSS feed.
    To receive an e-mail when I post a new blog, please subscribe.
    Subscribe to Blog

    Categories

    All
    Africa
    Author Interviews
    Current Events
    Devotional Thoughts
    Guest Blog
    Holidays Christmas
    Holidays Easter
    Holidays-Easter
    Holidays Other
    Holidays-Thanksgiving
    Missions And Missionaries
    Music
    My Books
    My Life And Family
    My Travels
    Non Fiction
    Orphans And Vulnerable Children
    Photos
    Publishers And Publishing
    Reading And Sharing Books
    Reviews
    Skating
    Theological Education
    Tributes
    Writing

    Archives

    June 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    August 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    September 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    August 2009
    March 2000

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • BIO
  • My Books
    • Children's and Young Adult
    • Historical Fiction
    • Non-fiction
  • Blog
  • Editorial Services