That is what we have, right?  We even call the lower house the House of Representatives.  The people whom we put in office are supposed to act as our representatives in making government decisions.  What does that mean?  What is a representative to do if what the people want runs contrary to the law of the land?  What if it conflicts with morality and justice, or his perceptions thereof?  I’ve never given any serious consideration to running for office, but I have at times asked myself what I would do in a particular instance. 

When one examines the various oaths of office from the presidential to the local, a common thread runs through them all.  It is the support and defense of the Constitution.  At the state level it will include the constitution of that state.  It may further include the laws of the particular jurisdiction for which the oath is taken.  Even in the cases where an official’s job may involve making law, the sustenance and defense of the existing law is the foundation on which his office stands.

It seems to me then, that an official of government is not bound primarily by the will of the people, but by the laws which have been made.  Our Constitution gives us the power indirectly to change those laws through our representatives, but until such changes are made, we are bound by those which are already in force.  What does one do if these laws run contrary to morality?

Herein lies the flaw in any form of government, which our founders did the best they could to minimize.  The law remains good only as long as the law makers remain so.  John Adams said of our Constitution,

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people.  It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.  We have no government armed with power capable of contending
with passions unbridled by morality and religion."
When people begin to prefer evil over good, this finely crafted document in which we have place so much hope can just as easily facilitate our destruction.  it is for this reason, though I continue to do what I can by the means available to me in this nation to influence our government to do what is right, I know that we have a far more daunting task before us, to return our country to the God it once knew.  Only through change in our hearts can we expect to see real change in our nation.