There is a lot more in this section, but since this is where a lot of the meatier issues are, I'm going to break this up a bit. This first section talks about Religious Liberty, Marriage, and Guns. Sections in bold are my commentary.
Part 2 – A Rebirth of Constitutional Government
1. We The People
a. Reaffirm Constitution’s principles of limited government, separation of powers, individual liberty, and the rule of law
b. denounce bigotry, racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice and religious intolerance
i. This is interesting to me, because Trump has definitely shown himself to be bigoted and racist. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/06/trump-racism-comments/588067/
c. oppose discrimination based on race, sex, religion, creed, disability or national origin
d. Encourage equality and access to the American Dream for all citizen
e. Merit and hard work should determine advancement in our society
i. I think this is great, and it should be how it works, however, I’ve been learning a lot about systemic racism and how there is a common phrase that black and brown children are raised with that goes like this “You will have to work twice as hard to be thought of as half as good.” This tells me we have a long way to go until we are truly allowing merit and hard work to determine our advancement instead of wealth, skin color, or anything else.
f. all legislation, regulation, and official actions must conform to the Constitution’s original meaning as understood at the time it was written
g. A president should enforce laws, honor constitutional limits on executive authority
i. Literally just Google “Trump and the Constitution” and you will find DOZENS of articles articulating how he has ignored constitutional limits on executive authority. It’s upsetting.
2. The Judiciary
a. Only a Republican president will appoint judges who respect the rule of law
b. want to reverse activist decisions like Roe v wade, Obergefell, and Obamacare
i. These rulings usurped Congress and state’s lawmaking authority and undermined constitutional protections
c. Judiciary should be the weakest branch
d. Only Republicans will follow the original meaning of the Constitution
i. This seems vague, and rather accusatory. I’m unclear what they truly mean by this.
e. We should not use foreign laws and precedents to interpret our Constitution or laws
f. international agreements should always have 2/3 of the Senate approval
3. Administrative Law
a. Congress delegates too much legislative authority to executive departments, agencies, and commissions
4. Defending Marriage Against an Activist Judiciary
a. Traditional marriage is the foundation of a free society and is the structure that for millennia has been entrusted with rearing children and instilling cultural values
i. What evidence do we have that gay marriage is NOT instilling cultural values, aiding in the foundation of a free society, or unable to be entrusted with rearing children? Studies are showing that kids raised with same-sex parents actually…do just fine. https://www.sciencealert.com/children-welfare-gay-and-bisexual-couples-suffer-stigma
b. Condemn US vs Windsor – made it so Congress cannot define marriage policy in federal law
c. Condemn Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v Hodges
i. The states should have been allowed to decide this question, not the Supreme Court
1. Here’s where I’m at with this – I actually had to read through the Supreme Court decision on this (the arguments for and against and the eventual ruling) for a college class about a year ago. In case you are not familiar, this is the case that legalized same-sex marriage across the US. I came to the conclusion that this possibly was not a decision that the Supreme Court should have made. I think maybe it would have been better if American people could have voted on it. HOWEVER, I also feel like what is done is done, and it’s not cool to go back and reverse it, to take AWAY the marriages of hundreds of couples who were waiting desperately for that decision. I understand this is a touchy subject for many religious people, but here’s my take. Since same-sex marriage was officially legalized across the US, I have not felt like the legitimacy of my heterosexual marriage has gone down one iota. I do not feel like my marriage is threatened. I am not suddenly confused about what marriage means. If you want to go on believing that God defined marriage as between a man and a woman and nothing else, that’s fine. No one is going to stop you. I believe that God has sanctified that union as well. There was an argument made that we can’t change a definition that God set. Ok, how is that separating church and state? We’re going to define marriage for an entire country based on what religion says it is? That doesn’t seem right to me. Religion can continue to define marriage however they want. I personally don’t see the collapse of society that everyone said would happen if we dared to redefine marriage. And if you’re feeling super fired up about this and want to rip me to shreds, don’t. I would have been right in the ring with you just a few years ago, but then I started LISTENING to LGBT folk and their stories changed my heart. I highly recommend the Listen, Learn, and Love podcast for any of my LDS friends who want to gain more understanding around the subject.
5. The First Amendment: Religious Liberty
a. against the attempts to force individuals, business, and institutions of faith to transgress their beliefs
b. charitable religious institutions are losing their ability to receive government grants
c. churches are worried about losing tax exempt status
d. Religious colleges and universities are threatened with fines and government is trying to control their personnel decisions
e. want to repeal Johnson Amendment
i. https://independentsector.org/policy/policy-issues/johnson-amendment/
ii. “The Johnson Amendment, passed in 1954, prohibits all 501(c)(3) organizations, including houses of worship, from endorsing political candidates. It has been instrumental in establishing the nonprofit charitable sector as one of the only platforms of nonpartisan civic engagement in the United States.”
iii. I don’t see this as a bad thing…I don’t think it should be repealed.
f. pledge to defend religious beliefs and rights of ALL Americans
i. Does that include Islam? I feel like most of the Islamophobia I see online comes from die-hard Republicans.
g. Endorse First Amendment Defense Act
i. bars government discrimination against individuals and businesses for acting on the belief that marriage is the union of one man and one woman
ii. protects the non-profit tax status of faith-based adoption agencies, accreditation of religious schools, grants and contracts of faith-based charities and small businesses, and licensing of religious professions
iii. government should not use subsequent amendments to limit First Amendment rights
iv. support the freedom of Americans to act in accordance with their religious beliefs in their daily lives, not just in private
v. people have the right to conduct their businesses in accordance with their religious beliefs
vi. Support the public display of the Ten Commandments
vii. religious students have the right to engage in voluntary prayer at public school events
viii. support religious, private, service and youth organizations in setting their own membership standards.
1. I feel like this section has a lot of stuff that sounds good but probably also encourages continued discrimination and bigotry. On the other hand, I do feel like a person should be allowed to run a business according to their religious beliefs (if I owned a restaurant, I wouldn’t want anyone forcing me to serve alcohol). I think this is a tricky area to navigate.
h. The First Amendment: Constitutionally Protected Speech
i. No limits on political speech
ii. should not require private organizations to publicly disclose their donors to the government
iii. support repeal of federal restrictions on political parties in McCain-Feingold
iv. call for an end to the “fairness Doctrine”
1. ensures that both sides get represented on broadcast media. I don’t really get why we would want to end this, but it’s not an issue I care to deeply investigate right now, feel free to educate me.
v. forced funding of political candidates through union dues and other mandatory contributions violates the First Amendment
i. The Second Amendment: Our Right to Keep and Bear Arms
i. a natural inalienable right
ii. self-defense is a God-given right and lawful gun ownership enables us to exercise that right
iii. support firearm reciprocity legislation to recognize the right of law-abiding Americans to carry firearms to protect themselves and their families in all 50 states
iv. support constitutional carry statues
v. oppose laws that would restrict magazine capacity or ban the sale of the most popular and common modern rifle (I’m assuming he means “aussalt weapons”)
vi. Condemn lawsuits against gun manufacturers and the harassment of firearm dealers
vii. oppose federal licensing or registration of law-abiding gun owners, registration of ammunition and restoration of any gun bans.
viii. call for an investigation of the “Fast and Furious” operation perpetrated by DOJ officials which allowed illegal sales of guns to known violent criminals.
1. Looks like this is over with https://www.cnn.com/2013/08/27/world/americas/operation-fast-and-furious-fast-facts/index.html
2. Ok, this is a big one I know for many Republicans. We are a gun-owning family as well. What I found lacking in this section of the platform was any recognition that gun violence is a problem that we should do something about. It very much seems to be – just let everyone keep their guns, don’t change a thing, this is America. And I feel like there is SOMETHING that we should be doing about gun violence. I do NOT think that our country should (or even CAN) completely ban guns, but I’m sure there’s something that can be done. The problem is, both sides need to work together. The people who are going to be best able to figure out a good solution are going to be the people who actually KNOW something about guns. I feel like the people who are most vocal about banning guns are also the ones who know the least about them. For example, do you know what the letters in “AR-15” stand for? Did you think it was “Assault Rifle?” It’s not. It stands for “ArmaLite Rifle.” It’s literally just the name of the gun. Also, fully automatic weapons (or assault rifles, where you hold your finger on the trigger and the gun keeps shooting) are already illegal, and “assault weapons” are just referring to the way a gun LOOKS, not what it can actually DO. https://www.nssf.org/msr/
j. The Fourth Amendment: Liberty and Privacy
i. call for limitations on the use of aerial surveillance, with the exception of border patrol
ii. oppose attempts by government to require surveillance devices in our daily lives, including tracking devices in motor vehicles
iii. figure out how to help Americans retain rights to communicate with each other free from government intrusion, but also allow the government to access encrypted information when it needs to.
iv. Repeal Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FACTA) and Foreign Bank and Asset Reporting Requirements
1. there is a requirement that banks have to provide detailed info to the IRS about American account holders outside the US.
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