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News :: Miscellaneous |
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Bill of Rights should be cherished |
Current rating: 0 |
by Russ Kevin Childers
(No verified email address) |
21 Oct 2001
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Something to fly instead of flags? |
The past couple of weeks have brought us not only a deep sense of grief and mourning, but also a defiant red, white and blue roar.
Though I am certainly not alone, I realize that I am in the minority in the feelings that are evoked when I see the suddenly ubiquitous flags and hear the chants of "USA" reverberating throughout our society.
I am very uncomfortable and worried when so many people claim such reverence for our flag and all it represents, while they at the same time seem willing to casually accept the chipping away at one of our most important natural treasures, the Bill of Rights.
If we believe the United States flag is more important, and more deserving of protection, than the U.S. Constitution, and specifically the Bill of Rights, then we might be in far more trouble than a few dozen religious fanatics could have ever hoped to inflict upon us.
President Bush blasts the terrorists of Sept. 11 for trying to destroy our democracy. As horrible as these acts were, it is not only attacks from fanatics from outside our country that we must fear. There are those within our own government who would use the current state of affairs to pass laws that infringe upon our long cherished civil liberties.
These proposed laws are not new ideas, recently conceived as a means to prevent other horrific acts against our nation. They are the same ideas that have been put forward in the past, only to be defeated. Now some would use the current situation as a pretext for finally achieving their goals.
With flags waving, the critical thinking and discussion considered so important by those who founded this great nation might now be considered almost un-American, as we rush to support the administration, right or wrong. Never mind that even Attorney General John Ashcroft, in his years in the U.S. Senate, opposed the curbs to our rights that he now puts forward as a leading member of the Bush administration.
We should be very thankful, not only to those who valiantly struggle in the aftermath of the World Trade Center and Pentagon tragedies, but also that a coalition of organizations composed of Democrats and Republicans, conservatives, liberals and progressives, is working to prevent the passage of these dangerous curbs on our democracy.
I have a dream: I see a sports stadium filled to the last seat, a sea of fans waving not the red, white and blue of the U. S. flag, but the Bill of Rights. I see copies of the Bill of Rights being displayed on passing cars, in front of homes and businesses, on people's lapels.
It is this document that has served to protect our way of life for more than two centuries. It is this document, not the mere cloth symbol, that has rightly earned our adoration. It must be defended from attack not only by those who proudly claim their opposition to our country, but also by those who wrap themselves in the flag as they assault the object of its symbolism.
Let us hope that our elected leaders take the necessary time to deliberate how to best protect us militarily. We deserve the same deliberation when it comes to possibly altering the Bill of Rights, which has withstood more than one attack in its glorious past.
Russ Kevin Childers is a computer support analyst at the University of Washington. |
See also:
http://seattlep-i.nwsource.com/opinion/43498_soap20.shtml
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