The serious study of the Constitution is a lifelong endeavor. Writing in the Ensign magazine, Elder Dallin H. Oaks repeated what he called his “favorite prescription for patriotism,” which comes from Adlai Stevenson, the former governor of Illinois, who was twice the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party: “Patriotism . . . is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.”
What does it mean to "support and defend" the Constitution in this environment? At the very least, it means that we will support and defend the rights protected by the Constitution. But it means much more than that. It means we will "support and defend" the values that gave life to the process by which the Constitution was created.
The incomparable Judge Learned Hand captured this sense of humility by quoting Puritan revolutionary Oliver Cromwell: “I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think ye may be mistaken.” Judge Hand then added: “I should like to have that written over the portals of every church, every school, and every court house, and, may I say, of every legislative body in the United States.”
The serious study of the Constitution is a lifelong endeavor. Writing in the Ensign magazine, Elder Dallin H. Oaks repeated what he called his “favorite prescription for patriotism,” which comes from Adlai Stevenson, the former governor of Illinois, who was twice the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party: “Patriotism . . . is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime.”