We have managed 220 years without mentioning gods in the Constitution; let's not mess that up now. That's not just for us unbelievers: I don't like the idea of an amendment that someone could use to argue that the freedom of religion protections apply only to religions that believe in one god.
Also, if your goal is to distinguish humans (and potential future sapient individuals such as aliens and AIs from corporations), you need to define "people." Nothing in what you're proposing says in so many words that corporations are not people. Or is this an attempt at forestalling animal rights activists?
If I'm right about what you're trying to do, how about: "Rights, including the rights protected or enumerated by this Constitution, belong only to individual human beings. Corporations and other organizations or groups are not people and do not have human rights. All humans, regardless of nationality, have these rights."
I'd suggest careful phrasing, possibly an additional sentence, to avoid extending the vote in U.S. elections to all non-citizens over the age of 18. Because an amendment amends the entire constitution. And that in turn is something anyone who opposes this amendment could use against it--rather more plausibly than the successful anti-E.R.A. stuff about coed bathrooms.
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Date: 2010-01-23 09:06 pm (UTC)Also, if your goal is to distinguish humans (and potential future sapient individuals such as aliens and AIs from corporations), you need to define "people." Nothing in what you're proposing says in so many words that corporations are not people. Or is this an attempt at forestalling animal rights activists?
If I'm right about what you're trying to do, how about: "Rights, including the rights protected or enumerated by this Constitution, belong only to individual human beings. Corporations and other organizations or groups are not people and do not have human rights. All humans, regardless of nationality, have these rights."
I'd suggest careful phrasing, possibly an additional sentence, to avoid extending the vote in U.S. elections to all non-citizens over the age of 18. Because an amendment amends the entire constitution. And that in turn is something anyone who opposes this amendment could use against it--rather more plausibly than the successful anti-E.R.A. stuff about coed bathrooms.