I’ve leveraged my perspective in finding spiritual salvation during the current societal maelstrom. I’ve made my purpose statement an obligation to share my view with everyone I can. In sharing my perspective, I ask that you try to understand, as I will always work, without fail, to understand yours.
The purpose of my life is to be an example of possibility, presence, and persuasion. It is to present my unique gifts to the world and provide all with who I interact with my philosophy on the nature of humanity, SO THAT I imbue my children and all the people in my life with a legacy of liberty and love and positivity that I sincerely hope will have a durable and lasting impact on the civil society.
It is through sharing we can come to an agreement or honorable disagreement. Perspectives are always changing. An agreement can always come in the future.
I never look upon an alternative opinion to my own with disdain. I have no right to do so. I cannot assume how another has come to her position, as she cannot presume to know how I came to mine. And so, to bridge the gap, it is incumbent for us all to listen and possibly accept that another can have a different opinion every bit as valid as our own.
I grew up in small-town America. The Fourth of July was revered and still is where I come from. Steeped in that milieu, I have over my adult life become a student of history.
I maintain the belief that we are not perfect. Men and women throughout history were not perfect. Our founding documents reflected that belief. The Constitution begins with “In order to form a more perfect union…” Perfection can never be attained in this world. “More perfect” is the best we can hope for. By accepting this simple fact, I can release myself from historical guilt.
Our Constitutional Republic is based upon incremental change toward that more perfect Union. Based on the philosophers that our founders relied upon such as Montesquieu (separation of powers) and John Locke (separation of church and state and natural rights) one can infer that the design of our Constitution explicitly creates the foundation for the betterment of the civil society, including the abolition of slavery. Indeed the one change in our Union that was monumental was the civil war and the abolition of slavery. The great Frederick Douglas, a former slave and contemporary friend of Abraham Lincoln, changed his perspective over time. His speech entitled “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” Punctuated his early philosophical leanings. He would later say, “the Constitution, interpreted as it ought to be interpreted, is a Glorious Liberty Document.”
This is from the scholar Peter C. Meyers's essay entitled “Frederick Douglass’s America: Race, Justice, and the Promise of the Founding:”
“Douglass endures unequaled as the invincible adversary of racial despair and disaffection—the pre-eminent exemplar and apostle of hopefulness in the American promise of justice for all. At the heart of all that he learned and taught were these simple propositions:
- That the natural-rights principles epitomized in the Declaration of Independence were universally and permanently true;
- That the everlasting glory of America’s Founding lay in its dedication to those principles; and
- That the salvation of the nation lay in its rededication to them.”
Here is an excellent short video on Frederick Douglass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FATFaZ7VOIc
To better understand we can all benefit from employing the
Socratic Method. From Wikipedia, A Socratic Method is a form of a cooperative argumentative dialog between individuals based on answering and asking questions. To stimulate critical thinking and to draw out ideas and underlying presuppositions.”
The Great Economist Thomas Sowell applies these three questions to all relevant political discourse:
The first is: ‘Compared to what?’
The second is: ‘At what cost?’
And the third is: ‘What hard evidence do you have?’
These are always a great start.
Without an understanding of historical context and perspective, it is my belief that individuals become malleable toward deleterious political movements. This is my fear; that we will throw the baby out with the bathwater.
This week I will remember all those who have sacrificed so much to create our ever-changing, ever striving Union. I will pray for all those who are striving today to make our land a better place to live for every American. I will celebrate our imperfections on the Fourth of July, the realization of their existence, and our desire to collectively strive to correct them.
