The Idea, A Pamphlet
1
Born in Southern Illinois in the 1960’s, I would probably be
best described as your average American male, nothing special in terms of
upbringing or social standing. No
inheritance or scholarship for a higher-level education, just a regular
guy. Growing up was fairly normal I
suppose with slight variations to that norm. I have one particular memory from elementary
school however, which seemed to be almost an epiphany.
It was in a Social Studies class. The teacher asked if anyone in the class
could recite the Preamble to the Constitution of The United States. My hand shot up almost involuntarily. Since mine was the only hand that went up,
the teacher naturally called on me. I
was nervous, kind of a shy kid was I, but I began.
“We the people of the
United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure
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 of The United States of America.”
The backlash from the class was immediate. “He got that from School House Rock!” came
the snide comment from the class bully.
“It doesn’t matter where he learned it, what counts is that
he knows. Nicely done young man.” The teacher replied. This began not only my first boyhood crush,
but also something else that, unlike the crush, would stay with me for the rest
of my life, The Idea.
The Idea is much more than a simple concept, it is a
revolutionary thought process held by a very special group of people during a
very tumultuous time. I will avoid
presenting a history lesson here. I
would encourage you to use this pamphlet as a springboard to your own journey
of discovery. There are countless texts
that relate the history of America. This
pamphlet is about an idea not the promotion of any political
agenda.
Many people disagree on the intentions of America’s
founders. Many people have differing
political believes. We all do, or
should, have some common ground on which to build our beliefs though.
To demonstrate this I will use an example, the flag of the
United States. First we must find some
common ground. Shall we agree that the
flag is a symbol of the United States?
Good, now shall we agree that the United States is defined in essence by
the Constitution of The United States?
So far I think, regardless of our political leanings, we can find common
ground in those beliefs. Now let us
challenge ourselves a bit. Since we
agree that the flag represents the United States and the Constitution defines
the United States, shall we agree that the flag represents the
Constitution? After all we do not fly
the Constitution on a flagpole, we have a portable representative, the
flag. I am hopeful we still stand atop
the same ground of agreement, now to the hard part.
What if I asked you if the burning of the flag was a
legitimate form of protest? What would
your answer be? The Supreme Court of the
United States says that it is legal. My
question is do you believe it is a legitimate form of protest? For the sake of argument lets say that some
reading this pamphlet would consider the burning of the U.S. flag not only a
legitimate protest but, as the Supreme Court ruled, a protected Constitutional right. So now we must return to the hallowed ground
of mutual agreement.
Did we not agree that the flag was a portable representative
of the Constitution? How then, can it be
a Constitutional right to burn the very object that protects your rights? Why would you hide behind a wall and then
tear down that VERY WALL? That makes no
sense. If you want to protest the
government as it sits at any given time, burn $100 bill! Then I might listen to what you have to
say! That is putting your money where
your mouth is! Funny, I never see anyone
doing that though.
My point with this argument is that we have to agree on something!
We have to believe in
something! That something, I contend, is The Idea.
The previous argument is only to make a point. I AM offended
when someone burns the flag but, they do have the right to free speech
regardless of whether or not I like it. I therefore simply shrug my shoulders
on continue on my way. Do you? What if someone burned a Quran? My views are
similar to that of the flag except, I
am NOT offended. I simply believe that the act of burning a Quran in protest is
silly. Let’s remember the First Amendment is designed to protect “offensive
speech”. There is no need to protect speech, which causes no controversy.
We as individuals MUST grow to a point where our personal
beliefs are STRONG enough to protect us from the sting of pointed words or
deeds. Does the God of Islam reside in a book, or in the believer’s heart? Does
the God of the Hebrew call all of Creation his house or just the Temple
Mount? Is Jesus a man confined by the
chains of the material or is he the Son of God, the Alpha and Omega? Is Buddha
everywhere or trapped in a Temple on a mountain somewhere?
I bet each would say they are whatever you BELIEVE they are. So whose faith is REALLY in question? Is it
the loudmouth destroyer of the material? Or is it the fanatical believer who
cannot contain their rage?
There have been recent events that I will relate. The first
is the building of a Mosque near “Ground Zero” in New York. I find that
offensive, but as long as they are held to the same building standards and
obtain all of the proper permits, like everyone else must do, I say build it.
This is America. The next is the Florida Pastor who announced his “Burn the
Quran Day”. Silly? Yes. As long as he adheres to the local burn ordinances,
burn a truckload of them. In both cases SOMEONE is going to be upset. SO WHAT!
If burning a Quran is SO offensive, I would pack up and move to Baghdad, they
don’t burn any there. If the sight of a Mosque near “Ground Zero” is that
disturbing, don’t take that route when you visit.
I find similarities with an Atheist who gets enraged over
religious displays. Why would an Atheist care? They don’t believe in God. So it
is just a cross. Why are they offended by a cross?
We are back to where we started, common ground, belief in
individual freedom, freedom to live as we choose as long as we don’t deny that
same freedom to others.
