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“…the vigor of government is essential to the security of liberty” Alexander Hamilton (The Federalist Papers”)
Over the past few weeks, we have heard calls for unity, from politicians of every stripe. I find it kind of funny that politicians who generally can’t agree on much of anything, have become united in their generic belief that the rest of us should be united.
On the surface, the concept of unity seems positive and straightforward. In reality, the pleas for more unity always seem vague. We need specificity if we are to seriously pursue the work of repairing our nation by becoming more unified.
The foundational principles of our government embody a framework that is unifying. For us, unity can be achieved by simply following the dictates of our Constitution.The path has been mapped, we just need to insist that everyone follow it.
There are more than 340 million people in The United States. We will never worship the same, look the same or perceive our experience of life in the same way. This is as it should be; a truly free nation is meant to have complex layers of diversity. The United States was created to be a nation that survives rather than caves when faced with the inevitable conflicts of so many people.
The conflict around ideas in our large country is eternal and unavoidable. Freedom to push for separate agendas on the one hand, while intentionally defending the individual protections provided by The Bill of Rights on the other, is a privilege and a gift. Our unity will never be broken by passionate disagreement, because any discord is blunted by the requirement to submit to the limits set in place by our governmental framework.
If we the people refuse to waver in our support for our framework of government and insist that our elected officials do the same, we will have all the unity that we need.
Unity is baked into our constitutional government. Checks and balances, separation of powers and provisions for individual rights are the foundational ideas that keep us from allowing our grievances and differences to be our undoing. The framers of our government crafted a framework that includes a roadmap able to guide us through the inevitable conflicts and occasional disruptions caused by the corrupt and power hungry. The core of our unity is our tacit agreement to follow our own rules and hold in contempt any leader who blatantly disrespects or attempts to subvert them. The framers of our Constitution were flawed men, but they rose to the occasion and gifted us with an enduring form of Government that does not oppress, but seeks to protect. Accountability for those who take an oath to support and defend the Constitution, but refuse to do so is key to our unity. Ultimately, unity is achieved by acceptance of our multifaceted diversity and the simple requirement that our leaders obey the law.
Like whomever you want, worship in whatever way you want, but draw the line at choosing a leader who shows blatant disregard for our constitutional protections. We must be unified in our insistence that those to whom we give power, must play by the rules that have served us for more than 235 years.
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I hope that we can unite over this message. Thanks for reminding us that the hard work of constitutionally defining a democratic government is in place – now we just need voters who will insist on electing officials who will follow policies and practices that support and sustain our inalienable rights.