Respect
for Others. . .
We are nearing the end of
the "Holiday Season", the months of November and December that are
bracketed by Thanksgiving and the start of the New Year. This is a time of traditions and family, a
time when we are reminded of the things that we value most in life. We gather with family and friends and we
celebrate in a wide variety of ways.
Yet, this is also a time of stark contrasts between the shared values of
culture, religion and family, and the commercialism and intolerance of our
society.
These contrasts are
magnified by the current conflicts that we are facing in America. These aren't new conflicts, but they have
been intensified by the recent political, social and economic upheavals. Inserted into this period of joyful
celebration has been an undercurrent of divisiveness and dislike. It is striking to see the difference between
the message of the holidays, and the reality that we observe.
America is, and always has been, a nation of significant diversity, This has been a source of strength as well as
a source of conflict from the very founding of our nation. The result of our ongoing effort to
incorporate different ideas into our national identity is a system that is
supposed to respect and protect a wide variety of beliefs and cultures. While citizens of the United States identify
themselves primarily as either Christian (77% in 2012) or Unaffiliated (15% in
2012), our laws and policies reflect this attempt to honor the original
thinking about religion set forth in our Constitution. The First Amendment states that
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...." and Article VI specifies that
"no religions test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office
or public Trust under the United
States."
As we have grown and
developed as a nation we have seen many different efforts made to protect the
rights of those who practice different religions, are of different races, who
have different abilities, and who live different lifestyles than those who make
up the majority of our population. We
also make the effort to recognize that there is significant diversity of
thinking and living within the Christian majority as well. Without these efforts to respect and protect
the diversity of our nation it is unlikely that we would ever have achieved the
status that we have in the world. In
fact, it is not unreasonable to think that the United States would never have
become a nation had not our founders compromised and built these protections in
to our original efforts to unify 13 colonies with very different cultural
identities.
Legal protections are one
thing, but as we know, it is difficult to mandate tolerance and to legislate acceptance. As a nation we have always seen a disconnect
between our national rhetoric and the reality of our society. From the very beginning of a nation where
"All men are created equal" we saw some men count as 2/3 of a citizen
(not to mention the literal meaning of the word men). In a nation where no religion is officially
established, it has been difficult to find a way to respect the wide variety of
religious practices that our people observe.
We have struggled to find ways to respect the "minority" while
honoring the "majority". Our
history is filled with struggle and conflict as we have grappled with these
challenges.
These challenges of trying
to find some common ground are the reason that we have a government and that we
attempt, as much as possible, to separate our religious views from our
political processes. There is no way to
ever eliminate the impact of our moral, ethical and religious opinions from
these processes, and to think we can is to ignore the reality of our human
efforts to make sense of the world around us.
What we can do is try to make sure that we have systems in place that
allow for debate and discussion in order to achieve the best result for the
most people that we possibly can.
Unfortunately, debate on
these moral issues can only lead to compromise and resolution if there is some
degree of tolerance and respect for the opinions of others in place. This is very difficult for some to accept,
they truly believe that they know what is right, just and true. It is because of this that two topics that
are taboo in polite conversation are politics and religion. Yet, if we are to maintain our unity as a
nation we need to have these conversations.
We need to continue the ongoing effort to find compromise and to
recognize that there is significant diversity of opinion in our nation around
many important issues.
This is why we have the
rules that we have. It isn't to punish
any specific viewpoint, despite the hysteria that is generated by extremists on
all sides who claim that our nation is headed towards moral or ethical
disaster. No culture, nation or society
can survive extremism and still maintain diversity of thought. In
her biography on Voltaire, Hall wrote the phrase: "I disapprove of what
you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it," and this thinking is the cornerstone of what has
made America
a successful nation. The current efforts
on the part of the extreme Conservatives threatens to undermine the very
foundation of the nation that they claim to love so much.
For me, this thinking goes
beyond a philosophical discussion and gets to the heart of my own moral,
ethical and religious beliefs. If we
truly are to live in a nation that we can identify as morally sound, we can't
practice intolerance and hatred for those who think or act differently than we
do. To do so is not only foolish from a
practical sense, but it also violates what I believe to be the foundation of
the religious and ethical beliefs that have guided our nation.
Those who claim that America is a
Christian nation need to carefully consider what that means, and what the Bible
tells us about how we should live our lives.
To state that we should "love thy neighbour as thyself," does
more than simply imply tolerance. It
means that we should be committed to working towards respecting all people and
working to build a society that honors and includes everyone.
In the end this isn't
about who wins the big political or economic battles between Conservatives and
Progressives, or Democrats and Republicans.
It is about what kind of nation we, as a people, choose to live in. The current climate of fear and anger, where
individuals and groups are looking for conflict isn't one that promotes equity
and justice. We devote too much time and
energy to the wrong conflicts and fail to address the issues that are of utmost
importance to our society and the people who live in it.
Respect
for Public Education. . .
Respect isn't just about
tolerating others' viewpoints, it is about providing the resources and support
to make sure that we create a society that promotes the "general
welfare" and recognizes the equality of all under the law. If we don't put an emphasis on providing
equal opportunity and protection for all citizens, then our expressed ideals
are simply rhetoric and empty promises.
Education has long been
touted as one of our greatest potential resources to accomplish these goals. The American system of public education can
provide the opportunities for all citizens to get the necessary training and
education to increase their potential for success. Our public schools are legally required to
provide access to these opportunities for all students, and are mandated to
support the diverse needs of every child.
However, education is more
than just an economic resource. Our
schools can also provide outlets for creativity, support for emotional needs
and many other things that go beyond the basics or core instruction. In our public schools students can learn
history, experience the arts and meet a variety of people from many different
cultures, backgrounds and experiences.
Unfortunately, the current
dialog around our public schools is all about the money and demonstrates a lack
of respect for those who work and learn in our schools. We know that the new year will bring renewed
assaults on our public schools.
These attacks continue
despite the lack of evidence that the proposed "reforms" actually do
anything to increase student achievement.
Educating students is
challenging work, and educators deserve respect.
The battles around public
education share the same roots, and the same solutions that those in the
economic, moral and political spheres have.
We, as a society, need to identify what is important to us, and then
devote our full attention and resources to resolving the challenges. We can't allow a small minority of
influential people to dictate the discussion and direction that our efforts
take.
Respect
for Labor. . .
America is a land of
contradictions. So far we've explored
the discrepancies between our expressed moral beliefs and our frequently amoral
actions, and the expressed importance of education and the educational
profiteering that drives many of the current educational
"reforms". These
inconsistencies share common roots of fear and greed. We express beliefs in one thing, but find
ourselves acting in opposite ways out of a need to protect our own
self-interests. Fear and greed are
powerful tools that can be used to manipulate and confuse people to support
things that they otherwise wouldn't.
This
is true in many aspects of our society and the effects have been magnified by
the current political conflicts. We see
opinions and ideals being manipulated in order to advance specific agendas, not
to help people. The efforts to control
the dialog about labor is yet another example of this.
Employment
is an important part of our identities as members of society. We place a tremendous amount of importance on
what people do for a living. Different
professions and occupations are given differing degrees of respect, and there
is significant competition to be employed in one of the high status
occupations. Lost in this competition is
the reality that all labor should be respected.
Every job is a piece of our economy and a part of the system that makes
our nation work. Yet, we consistently
degrade some jobs and subsequently dismiss the efforts of those who fill
them. This allows for labor to be
divided and weakens the power of the worker in America.
The
wealthiest citizens have long recognized this and use the divisions between
workers to advance their pro management, anti-labor agendas. One of the most visible battlefronts in this
conflict is the effort to destroy the power of organized labor in the United States.
If
labor unions are eliminated then individual workers will have little power in
their workplaces. The result will be a
more precipitous decline in the wages and benefits that employees earn,
especially in the least respected fields of work. We can't allow for labor to be divided, and
subsequently conquered. We can show our
support by shopping in worker friendly stores, buying goods made by fairly
treated employees and reminding ourselves and our fellow citizens that all
labor is valuable.
