# List of Countries where the constitution is interpreted per Original Intent **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 3, 2022, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-countries-where-the-constitution-is-interpreted-per-original-intent/970862 "2022-09-03T02:09:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-countries-where-the-constitution-is-interpreted-per-original-intent/970862/21 "2022-09-04T01:53:09Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > [There’s a couple of people wanna talk to you.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Federalist_Papers) They’re just the first in line. > > This notion that the origins of our country and it’s primary governing document are somehow lost in the mists of ancient antiquity, as though written on clay tablets in some obscure dialect of ancient Babylonian that only a few select scholars can read and interpret for us today, is beyond ridiculous. There are journals and entire books written from the personal notes and minutes of the meeting of the Constitutional Convention explaining exactly what they were thinking, and meant. In case my previous reference to the need for telepathy wasn’t clear, originalism is not based on what people wrote down. That’s textualism. What the authors of the Constitution generally wrote on the subject was that they opposed the idea of original intent. But activist conservative judges don’t worry about the text. They claim to have special insights into the minds of the founding fathers. Amazingly, the founding fathers were all thinking exactly like 21st century Republicans. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2022, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-countries-where-the-constitution-is-interpreted-per-original-intent/970862/22 "2022-09-04T17:38:40Z")
As with any religion, you start with the conclusions you desire and then work backwards to justify them. Any other modes of thinking are heresy. Formal logical propositions must start with a truth. If they are not a truth, any answer, whether true, false, or meaningless, may emerge even following strict formalities. That the thoughts of the founders are known and applicable to modern law is not a truth. Therefore, any desired answer may be produced, especially if strict logic is thrown out the window. The Ninth Amendment plays no part in opposing this process. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2022, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-countries-where-the-constitution-is-interpreted-per-original-intent/970862/23 "2022-09-06T13:26:30Z")
There’s a lot to be said for a stable constitution, but the US is unique in the path belief in the “sanctity” of the constitution has taken. Much like “states rights”, it’s a lazy argument that’s been used so much lots of people believe it, even though, if you scratch the surface, it’s rarely used with any sort of consistency or adherence to principle. Part of it is probably due to the US political system being extremely conservative (in the ‘all change is slow’ sense) and the judicial branch having used reinterpretation of the constitution as a way to “fix” bad precedence where other countries are more likely to be able to write new law. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-of-countries-where-the-constitution-is-interpreted-per-original-intent/970862.md?page=1)