Today we find ourselves in a ‘struggle of the soul’ with
the idea and principles of liberty and equality. It is both a moral and
intellectual dilemma crowded my emotion, tradition, and rhetoric. However our
emotions may deceive us or our traditions may guide us; our origins as a
country provide us with a clear vision of truth starting with the Declaration
of Independence.“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”. (A self-evident proposition is one that is known to be true by understanding its meaning without proof.)
During the most devastating conflict concerning liberty and equality in our nation’s history, which threatened our very existence, Abraham Lincoln reaffirms this ‘self-evident’ truth in his Gettysburg Address speech.
“Four
score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new
nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are
created equal."
Further proof of this “self-evident’ truth can be found
in scripture as God is described as righteous and impartial.
“For
the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome,
who shows no partiality nor takes a
bribe.” (Deuteronomy 10:17)
“The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his
justice and great righteousness, he does not oppress.” (Job 37:23)
Furthermore, our Constitution, supported and protected by
law, reinforce the natural and moral laws of equality.
“We the People of the United States,
in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish
Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense,
promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
The ‘Bill of Rights’ was added to the Constitution to
further describe the protection of individual citizens under the law.
So what does liberty mean? From the dictionary, liberty
has many meanings:
It can mean freedom
from arbitrary or despotic government or control,
freedom from external
or foreign rule; independence, freedom from control, interference, obligation,
restriction, hampering
conditions, etc.;
power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice, and freedom
from captivity, confinement, or physical restraint.
With this much wisdom
in our history and culture, I am unable to reconcile the division in our country
regarding the basic principle that all men are created equal.
John Adams said prior
to the American Revolution that “We are a nation of laws not men”. This means
that our liberty and equality is founded on self-evident truth and prescribed by
law not on tradition, opinion or the dictates of one man or a bloc of citizens,
be it a minority or majority.
The Constitution
defines the individual as sovereign along with the federal and state
government. The natural tension created by the determination of the rights of
these three entities is what makes our country great and protects us from a
despotic government, foreign rule, and the freedom to pursue life, liberty, and
happiness. It is the source of our political discourse as we seek to balance
the demands of all three. In essence, it is the beating heart and the life
blood of our common wealth.
When we accept the oppression and the obstruction of liberty of another or question their equality we violate the laws of nature, the laws of our own country, and universal wisdom. More importantly, I believe we violate our own conscious. I truly believe that liberty and justice are self-evident to us all. I believe this because every one of us recognizes when we are treated unjustly or when we see another treated in like manner.
It is not fickle emotion
or some lifeless tradition that should inform our conscious when we experience
or witness oppression, it should be the laws of our country and the love of a
righteous God that compel us to act on the behalf of another. When one of us is
oppressed, all of us are oppressed.
I am because we are.
