30 April 2014
I remember the Rodney King statement after his beating by police officers, “Can't we all just get along?” What he was really asking is can't we all just accept we are all different; we all have different goals, different lenses through which we view the world, different ways of communicating, different cultural and behavioral norms, and different ways of doing things. We just don't think about things the same way. People within the same cultural setting don't think of things the same way; much less in a truly multicultural society as the United States of America.
The basis of our country's culture, whether we like it or not, is the Constitution which our founder's put into place; yes they were a bunch of old white guys who did not have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. They hadn't yet come to the conclusion that slavery was wrong; though that discussion was started to come to the fore. They didn't feel a woman had a place outside the home or that her opinion should be even considered in public discourse.
They did have the sense to understand the government which has the power to give you everything also had the power to take those things away and wrote a document which limited the power of government. They then understood the need to codify those rights which individuals should have, and government could not abridge, and wrote the first ten amendments to guarantee such. They knew the document might need to change, but wanted to make it difficult so whims of culture didn't overcome the need for reflection, and wrote an amendment process which makes one think before acting.
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments of the Constitution, protect we the people from an overbearing government which might try to silence our voice or restrict our expressions of faith, non-faith, political will, freedom to gather, or the freedom to live a life of solitude if that is our choice. This freedom is the basis of how we are suppose to live in the society made up of those who, for whatever reason, weren't happy where they were. All our ancestors came from somewhere else; even the Native Americans' ancestors came across the land bridge between Asia and North America.
The ability to disagree with your neighbor, to debate the issues and then reach a compromise solution, is the gift the founders of this country endowed to us through the Constitution. It would be foolish of us to not embrace those freedoms and not allow the power of whatever constituted authority to squelch even one voice. We must allow differing opinions if for no other reason but we are all fallible human beings and make mistakes.
We can only guarantee those freedoms by truly being “a nation of laws and not of men”. Every law must be viewed through the lens of the Constitution as written and not as we want it to be. Every law must be enforced throughout the depth and breadth of our social structure. If not then the rule of law is meaningless and of no value. Just something to think about.
