Dr. King addresses tens of thousands on August 28, 1963, in Washington, DC
On this July 4th weekend, it seems appropriate that we pause and reflect once again on the blessings of a free society.
This is a subject we touched on recently in reaction to the sad events surrounding the election in Iran. In America we have endless disputes and bitter debates about a wide variety of subjects, but it is thankfully our tradition that regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum you have the freedom to express your point of view.
Now as we witness the disgraceful spectacle of seeing an oppressive Iranian regime jail those who would dare question the legitimacy of their actions; humiliate, beat, and torture their opponents in to signing forced confessions, and now labeling the victims as perpetrators of a mythical plot against their country, we can fully see the consequences of a society that thrives on terror as opposed to free thought and expression.
American democracy is still a relatively new phenomenon, but it has built its own set of traditions that the vast majority of its citizens honor. We are by no means perfect. But it is staggering to think that in 1912 we elected a white supremacist as president, and just 75 years after his death, an African-American occupies that same high office Woodrow Wilson held. Theodore Roosevelt caused such an uproar when he invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House, that he vowed to his associates that it was a mistake that he would never make again.
Last month, in discussing Iran’s horrific abuse of its citizens’ basic human rights, President Obama reminded us of the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, ”The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” Iranian president, Ahmadinejad, perhaps dictator would be a more appropriate term, suggested that his opponents and those who protested his “landslide victory” would be “swept into the dustbin of history.” Dr. King’s words lead us to a very different conclusion, hopefully it is the oppressors as opposed to the oppressed who in time will be swept into the dustbin of history.
As for finding fault with our own society, the list is long. The difference is that we can talk about those wrongs. We can march hundreds of thousands strong on Washington to protest a war in Vietnam, to ask for civil rights, or to raise a cry when too many of us go unemployed and underfed. And when leaders have attacked those who dared to raise their voices in protest, Hoover, Johnson, Nixon to name three, they have in turn lost favor with the American public and been swept from office.
And that is the great blessing of freedom. To have the tradition of a free press where protests and government actions and reactions can be recorded, photographed, and distributed. In the end the truth most often is revealed. It can be shameful and a scar on our history as well, but it is the truth nonetheless. We make reforms, we correct the wrongs and we move on. And upon further reflection, that is the true blessing of freedom!
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[...] Further Reflections on Freedom [...]