| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
08 Oct 2004 09:02:01 PM |
| Object: |
Losing Liberty |
http://www.detnews.com/2003/editorial/0312/07/a15-343185.htm
Sunday, December 7, 2003
Losing Liberty: Education
Schools should teach value of informed dissent
Future citizens need to learn the importance of their constitutional
rights; America's Founding Fathers proved this when their first act of
patriotism was a protest
By Judge Damon Keith / Special to The Detroit News
In the 228 years since the great man of British letters Samuel Johnson
first penned the phrase "Patriotism is the last refuge of a
scoundrel," it has been quoted so often that it has almost been
reduced to a cliche.
Yet, it remains one of the most eloquent observations ever made.
It is also one of the most prescient. As recent events in our nation
have unfolded, it continues to be relevant -- two centuries after
first being spoken. One need not look very far to see a disturbing
trend taking place in the wake of the tragic September 11th terrorist
attacks and the subsequent war on terrorism.
Even as our nation battles abroad to "protect our way of life," at
home, it appears more and more of those very same rights and liberties
we have long taken for granted and are ostensibly fighting to protect
are eroding before our very eyes.
We are now confronted with the greatest expansion of government power
that I have seen in my lifetime.
The USA Patriot Act expands government's surveillance and detention
power, and allows an authority to monitor books people read and
conduct secret searches. Yet it appears when others stand up to raise
their voices against what they perceive as government excesses and
over reaching -- all in the name of national security -- their
patriotism is questioned or it is suggested they are giving aid to the
enemy or are "soft on terrorism."
Making this phenomenon even more disturbing is the fact that few
people seem to be particularly concerned about this escalating
problem. This appears especially true among the young people of our
nation; many of whom are not old enough to appreciate how hard others
fought to attain the very rights now threatened.
But it is these same young people who have the most to lose in this
battle to redefine the very nature of our democracy. And it is they --
more than anyone else -- who need to be educated about their rights
and responsibilities as citizens so they better appreciate what is at
stake.
Our nation was born out of dissent, but conceived in hope. We
recognize that dissent is an act of faith rooted in the belief that
better things are possible. In America, dissent is patriotic, and our
children need to know this.
They should be taught that the prime example of this principle is the
Declaration of Independence, in which Thomas Jefferson wrote:
"Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed." How many of our children realize that
the Founding Fathers understood that the people must be free to
express their "consent" as well as dissent?
And that the Declaration of Independence demonstrates that the first
patriots were not only willing to defend their rights by dissenting in
perilous times, but most able to articulate their willingness? We must
teach them that effective dissent is informed dissent.
The fact that few young people today seem to appreciate this is a poor
reflection on our education system, which no longer stresses the
importance of understanding our constitutional rights. And sadly it is
also an indictment of much of the media, which have failed to
adequately inform citizens of their right and duty to dissent when the
government over-reaches or seeks to truncate those rights.
That was not always the case. The civil rights movement was literally
a dissident movement led by young people who understood the rights
they were entitled to as Americans and demanded they be respected.
Many of those youthful leaders were inspired to challenge the
government to live up to its promise of democracy by the media and
educators who helped illuminate the jarring disconnect between the
American promise of equal opportunity and fairness with the reality of
living in an apartheid state.
Still, in spite of my concerns in general about the media, I would
like to compliment The Detroit News for its illuminating series on the
threat to our basic civil liberties. It is that kind of informed
dissent that keeps our democracy vibrant and ultimately meaningful.
Time has shown us that suffrage, not suffocation, protects our
liberty.
If democracies die behind closed doors, then we must wedge the doors
open. So our children must be taught that informed dissent is the
lever of democracy, truth is its fulcrum, and courage is its force.
Citizens must be willing to dissent and do so effectively. If people
have an education in their civil liberties, they will be more capable
to dissent.
In the case Detroit Free Press v. Ashcroft, the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Sixth Circuit wrote that: "In our democracy, based on checks
and balances, neither the Bill of Rights nor the Judiciary can
second-guess government's choices. The only safeguard on this
extraordinary governmental power is the public, deputizing the press,
as the guardians of their liberty."
The will of the people to act depends on information, but the
availability of information is not enough. Effective citizenship
demands that we are educated in, and capable of seeing abuses to, our
rights. Without a vibrant citizenry, capable of informed dissent and
willing to stand up, our Constitution would be as dead as leaves.
So we should never forget that the Declaration of Independence, our
first act of patriotism, was an act of protest. We cannot bask in the
shadow of an earlier triumph when each child has the potential to
shine like the sun.
We can never abandon our responsibility to ensure that all children
know their rights and are able to effectively express them. Anything
less would be unpatriotic.
Judge Damon Keith of Detroit sits on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit. In 1987, Chief Justice William Rehnquist appointed him
to serve as the National Chairman of the Judicial Conference Committee
on the Bicentennial of the Constitution. Send letters to
letters@detnews.com.
--
Contempt of Congress meter reading-offscale.
Vote for Bush. Why vote for the lesser of two evils?
No matter the candidates the superstition industry wins.
'Jesus' is a sock-puppet Christians utilize to add 'authority' to
whatever action they intend on taking. -Stoney
.
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