In this time, shockingly marked by the shooting of President Trump yesterday, we are called to reflect, and to speak. Not for political reasons, but for the salvation of our country.
Freemasons can not abandon the field of ideas because if we do so we leave public discourse to those who’s entire mission is the stoking of mindless hate and fear.
Instead of walking off the field, we must “Promote Masonic values to restore civility in society.”1
Like today, our Presidential elections in 1796 and in 1800 were matches between the same two men. Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. Adams won in 1796, and in 1800 Jefferson prevailed.
Also like today, those elections were filled with shocking levels of hatred and fear. Reading materials from the time point to just how horrifically divided our nation was through those elections.
But, then America found some sense. It figured out how to turn down the temperature of its rhetoric. And by doing so Americans created the strongest, most successful nation to ever grace the face of the earth. Americans created that mythical “shining city on a hill.” The country that millions of millions from around the world have sought to become a part of.
We’ve forgotten that.
Today our political and cultural divisions are once again fueled by hatred and fear.
We must, if we hope for an American future as bright as its past, remember once again. We must learn, once again, how to disagree without violence.
The last time America forgot these lessons we ended up in a bloody Civil War. A war that saw almost 620,000 dead.
Do we really want that again? Some on Social Media openly claim yes, but every reasonable and rational person would say no.
So now is the time that we must remember that we are all Americans. And how Americans settle their differences. It is time we remember what it is to be an American.
It is the time that we stand up against those who promote hatred and fear.
How do we do this?
By remembering, and pursuing our nation’s political and cultural norms. Norms that have fallen by the wayside in recent years.
I’m not going to claim that this is an exhaustive list, but it is a good start:
-We must stop using overheated rhetoric about how our side is ‘Protecting Democracy’ while the other side is ‘Seeking to destroy Democracy.’ This rhetoric is inflammatory, and untrue. Our political norms and processes will prevent dictatorship in the United States, if we embrace them once again.
-We must stop making a leap in our own minds from ‘policy debate’ to ‘personal hate.’ We have collectively forgotten that it is A-OK to disagree with someone on a political or cultural issue, without hating that person. We must get outside of our own personal silos, and we must stop viewing everyone we disagree with as an enemy.
-Hot takes entered our society in a major way with the development of the 24/7 news cycle and Social Media. We must recognize that Hot Takes are very often incorrect, and very rarely lead to enlightened commentary. We must discount what is immediately written (or said) in favor of that which is written following thoughtful contemplation.
-We must expect our candidates to concede lost elections, even if they perceive those elections to have been unfair. This is how it was done in the past, and if we hope to heal a divided society, it must remain the norm.
-Related to that, we must expect, and demand, that our elections be free, fair, honest, and completed on election day. America was able to determine its elections on election night for decades and decades, nations around the world do the same. It is not reasonable, nor fair, that elections are no longer determined on the night of the same day they take place. And it not only results in increased perception of fraud, it makes fraud more possible.
-Also related to that, we must protect our candidates for high office. Denying Secret Service protection to disfavored candidates is unconscionable and must be stopped.
-We must, as has been done in the past, Pardon, not Prosecute our political opponents when they are out of power. Doing otherwise is nothing but an embrace of the worst practices of past ‘banana republics.’
-We must denounce censorship. Government censorship, corporate censorship, and censorship driven by partnership of government and NGO’s. Free Speech and Free Press are the bedrock upon which America is built, and we must not allow any of that foundation to be undermined.
-Likewise we must support factual media and stop rewarding those propaganda outlets that simply pander to our own worst influences. We must recognize clickbait for what it is, and reward thoughtful coverage, even if it doesn’t completely fit with our personal narrative.
-We must stop the normalization of petty crime. Petty crime when unaddressed becomes more serious crime. Society can not function when its citizenry does not feel safe. We must demand that criminals be punished for their crimes.
-We must stop the normalization of riots, encampments, looting, and all the rest. None of these things are legitimate forms of bringing about change. Protest is American, looting is not. Again, we must demand that those who riot and loot are punished for their crimes, and we must demand that obviously violent riots are not portrayed as ‘peaceful protests.’
These are American political and cultural norms that have been collectively forgotten in recent years. It is time that we all remember them once again.
It is time that we all remember that we are all Americans.
https://www.masoniccivility.org/
I have to disagree on a few of these points, and wholeheartedly agree on many. The most glaring issue for me was about protest.
No one calls riots or looting peaceful. NO ONE. Just the opposite. PEACEFUL ones were characterized as criminal across the board, lumped in with incidents of violence to delegitimize free speech and assembly. Just like during MLK's time. And look up the ACLED data to see how little violence there was, magnified a thousand times by media and bigots.
And what about normalizing encampments? Was razing the veteran Bonus Army a shining moment in our history?
Liberty was under attack, and instead we pass laws to crack down on it under the pretense of protecting society. Pretty sure there are political terms we don't want to apply to that but fit.
I may raise a few other contrary perspectives, but this was almost offensive, as much right as you have to express it and I respect that.
I feel it important to add, it' not about left vs right- it elites vs the citizens. One of histories biggest threat to civil obedience and considered by government of the day, a terrorist. This was none other than Samuel Adam's. We must ask why is the Bidedn administration using tax dollars to bring in millions of immigrants from around the world, while handing them promises of jobs, free Healthcare and living expenses. And likely the right to vote without obtaining citizenship. And why did both Presidents allow Shwarzman to use the American Social Security money to buy up housing along with other private investors, making it closer to a communist coutry. And why us it that the government has sold out its own people by selling its lands to foreign investors? Samual Adams was a big threat toward the British Monarch. Now they are the biggest foreign owner of America at about 30%.