Sample Letter or Op-Ed #3
for Bill of Rights Day
(277 words)
Recently I learned about a movement to establish December 15 as Bill of Rights Day. I would like to urge our town to celebrate the Bill of Rights for several reasons.
First, the Bill of Rights declares the idea that makes America unique. We have rights as individuals, it says, and government must respect them. Most other countries do not have a constitution with such a clear statement.
Second, our Constitution would not have become the law of land without the Bill of Rights. Several states refused to join the Union unless the Bill of Rights was included. When Virginia ratified the Bill of Rights on December 15, 1791, only then could the United States become a new nation.
Third, our military men and women have served, fought, and died to preserve the Constitution and our Bill of Rights. To celebrate Bill of Rights Day on December 15 would annually remind us of how their sacrifices preserved not just "the country," but some very specific guarantees of liberty.
Fourth, an annual Bill of Rights day would remind all members of government—policemen, prosecutors, bureaucrats, judges, and politicians—that government exists to serve, not to rule, the people.
Whether as individuals we are on the political Left or Right, whether we care passionately for one particular right or another, we should come together to celebrate our core values. Our civic core values lie in the Bill of Rights. We should set aside at least one day each year to read and ponder the rights we sometimes take for granted. What American could oppose the concept of preserving all of the Bill of Rights for all citizens?