america did not have been religious freedom amended america. 1798dent john adams in road to the massachusetts militia meant to remind them that our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. it is wholly inadequate to the government than any other unit in 1798, this is simple, commonsense. in 2014, were forced to confront a question that would have been on thinkable to president adams and many others throughout history. what happens when our government decides it no longer needs a moral and religious people? today the american people are mired in a silent war. it is a war against the propositions on the declaration of independence. it is a war against the spirit that motivated abolitionism. it is a war against the soul of countless acts of charity. it is a work as a conscience that drives social change. there is the war against the heart that binds our neighborhood together. it is a war against america's best self and best moments. it is a war. a silent war against religious liberty. this war has been waged in our sports and the halls of political power. it is pursued with graham an

president john adams in 1798 road to the massachusetts militia meant to remind them that our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. it is wholly inadequate to the government than any other unit in 1798, this is simple, commonsense. in 2014, were forced to confront a question that would have been on thinkable to president adams and many others throughout history. what happens when our government decides it no longer needs a moral and religious people? today the american people are mired in a silent war. it is a war against the propositions on the declaration of independence. it is a war against the spirit that motivated abolitionism. it is a war against the soul of countless acts of charity. it is a work as a conscience that drives social change. there is the war against the heart that binds our neighborhood together. it is a war against america's best self and best moments. it is a war. a silent war against religious liberty. this war has been waged in our sports and the halls of political power. it is pursued with graham and relentless determination a group of like-

president john adams in 1798 road to the massachusetts militia meant to remind them that our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. it is wholly inadequate to the government than any other unit in 1798, this is simple, commonsense. in 2014, were forced to confront a question that would have been on thinkable to president adams and many others throughout history. what happens when our government decides it no longer needs a moral and religious people? today the american people are mired in a silent war. it is a war against the propositions on the declaration of independence. it is a war against the spirit that motivated abolitionism. it is a war against the soul of countless acts of charity. it is a work as a conscience that drives social change. there is the war against the heart that binds our neighborhood together. it is a war against america's best self and best moments. it is a war. a silent war against religious liberty. this war has been waged in our sports and the halls of political power. it is pursued with graham and relentless determination a group of like-

massachusetts were ordering them to pay. they rebelled. it was very hard to put the rebellion down. in and theymarched took a vote and swiss side. the militia not do well and fear over this kind of anarchy was part of what drove george washington to support the constitutional convention and drove a number of the people at the convention to say, we need a new kind of government that is that can really bring order. the whiskey rebellion was a little later, in george washington's first term. people in western pennsylvania did not want to pay the new tax on whiskey, which was a way of storing grain by distilling it into alcohol. this time, george washington and his government sent in the troops and crush the rebellion and showed that if we were going to have a country, we were going to have love and it was not going to be up to everybody to decide what laws they were going to follow. are some of the things that were going on at the time that give us a little about what they might've been thinking about at that moment. host: on twitter -- caller: i own several guns. it --d not like it if there was a law or the government would take our guns away

massachusetts and moving on to virginia and new york, the constitution was ratified with a catch. people said, we need to have amendments. amendmentsozens of in, dealing with all kinds of issues, including the militia and the right to keep and bear arms and other things like that. mostly on other topics. the constitution got ratified. madeongressional race was a big difference. james madison who we revere as the father of the constitution -- he thought the congress should be able to veto the laws of the states. he was for a much stronger central government then. madison was against the movement. --thought the constitution he ran for congress in that first election. it was a tough race. the swing votes were baptists. the religious minority. they said, we will vote for you if you support the bill of rights. madison did one of the great flip-flops. he vowed to pass amendments and went to congress and had to push amendments through the first congress and that is how we got the bill of rights. host: what was the debate like in congress over the second amendment and bill of rights? guest: one of the things that is striking to me was how heated the debates are today, it is so embraced and waved as a banne