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On January 8, 2011 22-year-old Jared Loughner would shoot U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, U.S. District Judge John Roll and 18 others as Giffords was greeting constituents at a supermarket in Tuscon, AZ. Of those shot 6 were pronounced dead including Judge John Roll and Christina Green who was just 9-years old.
Clarence Dupnik, the Pima County sheriff had the following to say:
“The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous, and unfortunately Arizona has become sort of the capital,”…”We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry.”…”The fiery rhetoric that has taken hold in politics may be free speech, but it’s not without consequences”
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“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”. Moreover, “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.” Therefore, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”
I chose to amalgamate these powerful words, which are known around the world, in order to showcase the beauty that is our country. These three sentences often stand-alone however; today I find the need for them to coalesce as we stand in awe of the tragic events of January 8th, 2011.
Make no mistake America’s political history is rife with violence–from the Burr-Hamilton duel in the 1800s to the Kennedy assassination in the 1960′s. However, these incidents cannot be divorced from the civil unrest nor the acrimonious discourse that permeated the atmosphere of the time. Recanting on history one sees how quickly our country is held captive with demagogic and vitriolic rhetoric that bolsters sentiments of hatred and violence which ignites the darker realm of civil unrest.
While Fox, MSNBC, CNN make billions reporting the news centered on political discourse–choosing which legislation is worthy of their “coverage”. Pundits on these networks make their livelihood debating left versus right political paradigms while also forcing the polarization of our country as viewers accept these, often extremely conflicting, views as axioms. I truly believe that our most valuable asset is “we the people” however; I must also believe that our most costly liability is “we the people”. The cognitive immaturity that is prevalent in our society today is what makes me believe in the latter so dearly–we must address this. The onus is on “we the people” if we are to ever have a “more perfect union”.
The power to marginalize our liability is ours–and ours alone. We are all guilty of gravitating towards ideas that do not force us to think critically nor to truly analyze. We seek out news and information that we can easily agree with such that it fits comfortably within the paradigms to which we have held long-time membership.
Understanding our legal system we tolerate many things that stand alone as questionable* however, we have become proactive against others. Terror is more than fire and bombs. Words are powerful, inspiring, uplifting, persuasive—dangerous.
In the wake of the tragic events of 1/8/11 many individuals took a brave step forward to cast their support to defend inflammatory rhetoric based on Constitutional rights. Make no mistake, I support the Constitution. That is why I cannot accept any attempts bastardize it and using the first amendment to protect inflammatory caustic rhetoric is such a case. Yelling “fire!” in a crowded theater or “bomb!” in an airport terminal are instances of inflammatory rhetoric that would cause instantaneous panic—and be followed by carnage. But, let’s move past the Constitution and think about our humanity
Taking a look back to the, now infamous, Terry Jones. Mr. Jones was catapulted in national spotlight as he led a church group to burn copies of the Koran. Such an act was denounced from politicians from Secretary of State Clinton to, now House Speaker, U.S. Rep. John Boehner and Gen. Peterus. Mr. Boehner goes on to say that “Just because you have a right to do something in America does not mean it is the right thing to do. We are a nation of religious freedom, we’re also a nation of tolerance,” Boehner said. “I think in the name of tolerance people ought to really think about the kind of actions they’re taking.”
While Voltaire stated that “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it” may be the mantra of the day we must be mindful that: Words are powerful, inspiring, uplifting, persuasive—dangerous. Thus, we should: “do to others what you would have them do to you”—Matthew 7:12.
*Please note that Arizona did approve legislation in response to funeral protest that made it difficult for person to protest funerals.
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