Realizing American Ideals
by Bob Henderson
Chair, Kay County, OK Democrats
I am committed to human equality. My commitment is both political and emotional. I believe every human on earth is as entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as every other. This is deeply ingrained among my values. Did my father teach me this? Did my church? Or did I learn it along the road of life?
I was too young to be aware when laws first permitted persons of different races to marry, but I recall being surprised when an African-American with a white wife was elected a vice president at Westinghouse. I was pleased by that, just as I was pleased when the first Jew and the first woman became vice presidents.
Today, we all agree that such factors should not be a barrier to any person’s career.
Did you accept these developments reluctantly, or happily? Maybe you felt a little of both. None of us can ignore our emotions. But perhaps we should try harder to recognize the source of our “values,” and see if they are as valid today as when we first learned them.
Most Oklahomans today treat people of different races, different religions, different lifestyles, with respect when they meet in public. Do our politics reflect that same respect?
Conservative politicians like to portray themselves and their supporters as the “true patriots,” as if Democrats and progressives were not patriots. In the first place, purely emotional patriotism does not offer a rational solution to any of the challenges we face as a nation.
But just what is “true patriotism”? Devotion to the U.S. Constitution?
The Constitution says all American citizens are equal and entitled to the same rights. It prohibits an official state religion and a religious test for holding office.
Did you celebrate the election of the first African-American president? Would you vote for a Muslim American for president? Do you support the right of two people of the same sex to marry?
I think Martin Luther King, Jr., was a great American patriot when he urged our nation toward a greater realization of the ideals of equality embodied in our founding documents. I believe taking a critical view of how well we are realizing these goals, as a nation, as a state, and as a person, is a primary responsibility of citizenship, and patriotism.
The Bible was cited by many in support of both slavery and segregation. Many Christians, Jews, people of other religions, agnostics and atheists led the fight against these hateful policies.
Members of the same religions are not always able to agree. For this reason, I believe it is dangerous to base politics on religion. Yet, we must vote our values, and religion is at least one of our sources.
The questions posed above are very emotional issues. People who believe in both the Bible and the Constitution cannot agree on the answers.
The world is a changing place. All of us have had to recognize that many prejudices we learned in our youth were wrong. I believe both the Constitution and the Bible teach us to treat all mankind as equals.
But if you think all the answers are written down somewhere, for us to follow without serious self-reflection, you are wrong. Life is the best teacher. We need to examine our lives and our hearts, as well as the hearts of others, for these answers.
We are no better, and no worse, that the kindness and compassion in our hearts, regardless of the source.