One of the most amusing aspects of modern political debates is how often people loudly proclaim their love for the United States Constitution while simultaneously demonstrating that they have never actually read it.
I bought my own copy of the Constitution for my personal library back in 1999. When smartphones became common, one of the first things I downloaded was a Constitution app so I could reference the document whenever I needed it.
The reason is simple: the Constitution is not a long document.
In fact, it is surprisingly short.
The original Constitution consists of seven articles. The longest of these, Article I, establishes the legislative branch and contains ten sections. The shortest, Article VII, is only a single sentence.
Add the 27 amendments that have been ratified over the course of American history, and the entire document is still roughly the length of a long magazine article or a short story.
Yes, the language reflects the legal style of the late eighteenth century. But it is not particularly difficult to understand, especially if you read an annotated edition that includes explanatory notes or writings such as the Federalist Papers.
The problem is that many of the loudest self-described “constitutional patriots” have never taken the time to read it themselves.
Instead, they treat the Constitution the same way many people treat religious texts: they claim to revere it, but rely entirely on other people to tell them what it says and what it means.
And those interpretations rarely come from constitutional scholars, legal historians, or practicing constitutional lawyers. More often, they come from political commentators or activists whose understanding of the document is shaped more by ideology than by careful study.
Blind allegiance to a document that one has never actually read is not patriotism. It is intellectual laziness.
If Americans truly care about the Constitution, the first step should be obvious.
Read it.