By: Mildred Robertson
The streets of America run blood-red from the senseless slaughters occurring daily in the U.S. due to rampant, unchecked gun violence. Yet Congress continues to avoid its responsibility to institute sensible gun laws to ensure that citizens enjoy the promise of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness our constitution espouses.
What exactly do those words mean? The Founders seemed to believe that by a matter of birth, each of us is endowed with certain rights from the Creator; rights that the government is called to protect. We each are entitled to freedom under the law, as long as OUR freedom does not deny that same freedom to someone else. As the current U.S. Supreme Court looks backward to legislate on pressing issues of the day, they seem to have overlooked that simple fact.
“True liberty consists in the security of
persons and property, so that every man, while he respects the persons of
others, and suffers them to enjoy in quietness the fruits of their industry, is
certain that he himself will be permitted to enjoy the same blessings at the
hands of his fellow-citizens… [T]o live in a state, where the laws are equal
for all, where they are sure to be executed with moderation and fairness, is to
be free. But that is a wretched servitude, call it by what name you will, —
democracy or aristocracy, a republic or despotism – where the laws are partial,
uncertain, fluctuating, and feebly and irregularly administered.”
--Commentaries on the Laws of the Ancient Hebrews; E.C. Wines, 1853 edition, p. 364; published by George Putnam and Company.
Using that Rubicon, America is sorely off
track regarding the protection of freedom for all its citizens. Today America
suffers from “wretched servitude” to guns, racism, partisanship, religious
intolerance, the thirst for power, and frankly, ignorance that denies many of
us the liberty promised by our founding document. We are plagued by the rule of
the few over the desires of the many. Our laws have become so convoluted as to
somehow allow minority rule to overtake the entire system. This upside-down
world has resulted in an erosion of individual freedom for people of color,
women, and the average citizen. Today, we are not free to worship, shop, go to
school, attend a concert or a club, or simply celebrate the 4th of
July without fear of being gun down by a Second Amendment advocate who is
unhinged, hate-filled, or just wants to go down in infamy.
Today our Democracy is a mirage…a dream. Whereas the Founders attempted to fashion a nation where each of us could expect to be treated with “moderation and fairness,” we find that Americans currently enjoy neither. Our laws are in fact, “partial, uncertain, fluctuating and feebly and irregularly administered.” From our local government to the highest court in the land, our freedoms are under attack. Whereas these entities were designed to ensure our freedom, they are slowly, methodically taking them away. We have not yet lost the idyllic promise of America, but we must awaken from the nightmare in order to stop the demise of freedom.
We have never fully realized the promise of equality, justice, and freedom the Constitution exemplified though we made some meaningful strides toward that dream. Yet, in just one administration we almost lost it all. We must rise up and reclaim our promise. We must strive again to reach the potential the Founders held out for us. We must lay aside partisan bickering, and racial and class strife and seek a path where we all can prosper.
The majority of Americans want reasonable gun laws. Most of us support a woman’s right to choose. Collectively we want a police force that protects and serves, not one that kills and terrorizes. We want freedom of religion, but we do not want religion to rule our government. Most folks believe in the right to live alternative lifestyles, even if we don’t personally want to live that way. Your average American doesn’t believe that a civilian should have access to weapons of war. If we all stand together and say that, we could have the dream rather than the nightmare. However, in order for that to happen “most folks” are going to have to vote. We know that, historically, most folks don’t.
I implore each of you who have had sleepless nights over the senseless murders that plague our nation; who agonize over the 10-year-old rape victim forced to carry her rapist’s child; who is fuming over Supreme Court decisions or state gerrymandering, who is outraged by police brutality, JUST VOTE!
You personally cannot address these issues. But together, we can shout loud enough to wake America from its nightmare.
Your vote is your voice.
