This morning I read an article about two men who are running for Congress. Both of these men have faced charges of war crimes from their respective tours of duty in the military. Both of these men are being not only excused, but also lauded for these accusations. Now, neither man was ever convicted, but that's not where their defenders are concentrating. Some among their defenders aren't saying, "He was never convicted of wrongdoing." They're saying, "I hope he did do that of which he's accused--what a hero!" If pumping 60 rounds into two unarmed detainees and then leaving their bodies in the streets with a sign on them as a warning to the rest of the populace (the very act of which one of the men was accused) qualifies one as a hero, then I must have a very mistaken idea of the meaning of the word "hero" indeed.
I also read an article about Sarah Palin's saying that female activists she calls "mama grizzlies" (??) will "take back" America in November. Apparently I somehow missed the period in which democratic (that's small "d," as in "characteristic of a democracy") elections were suspended in this country and in which a coup d'etat occurred, thereby necessitating a democratic (small "d" once again) counter-revolution.
Then I read a discussion thread that contained defenses from presumably rational people of venom fountains such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh.
In the context of all that, I'm sad, scared, and angry.
So now I have a choice. I could react to my sadness, fear, and anger by shouting back--by becoming as strident and vitriolic as someone who lauds an alleged war crime as an act of heroism, or as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh. I could react to my sadness, fear, and anger by retreating entirely and curling up into a small ball and hoping it all goes away. I'm not choosing either of those options.
I'm choosing instead to stand up. I stand up simply and peacefully, and I announce calmly why I'm standing, and for what.
I stand for love.
That's easy to say, but what does it mean? Here are a few aspects of what it means to me:
I stand for peace. I won't say that violence, whether between nations or individuals, is NEVER the answer, but it is ALMOST never the answer. When it does become the answer, it's important to apply only the amount of violence that the situation calls for and no more.
I stand for justice. Please note that to me "justice" does not mean "retribution." It means equal and fair treatment for everyone. Yes, everyone. That means equal rights and equal protection under the law regardless of anyone's ethnicity, skin color, sexual identity, faith or lack thereof, or anything else.
I stand for integrity. Nothing you do to me justifies my wholesale rejection of my principles, because they're mine and I don't give you the power to take them from me. For example, even the fact Islamists have committed such thoroughly vile atrocities does not give me the right to visit atrocities or otherwise to upend my principles upon those suspected (and suspected is a key term here) of association with Islamists.
I stand for compassion. It's important to remember that those with whom I disagree, however wildly misguided I may think them to be, and even those who actively wish me harm are human beings with loves and hopes and lives of their own. Villains there are, but villains who actively think of themselves as villains and who relish in the role are rare indeed.
I stand for respect. As long as your expression of your liberty doesn't impinge on that of others, as far as I'm concerned you are entitled to that expression and I'm highly unlikely to tell you otherwise. I might argue with you, I might even discourage others from paying attention to you (right, Mr. Beck and Mr. Limbaugh?), but I'm unlikely to try to censor or silence you.
I stand for personal choice. You don't have to choose the same path I do or the path I might wish for you, and I'm not going to advocate legislating my path onto you.
I stand for humaneness. I'm a great advocate of fiscal responsibility, but I think it's utterly unconscionable for people to object to expanding access to health care on the basis of its expense (if you think there's a better, more cost-effective solution to the problem than the current particular solution, that's one thing--I'm speaking of objection on the basis of spending the money at all) while some of the same people blink not an eye at the astronomical expense of our current armed conflicts. How can we be unwilling to spend any money to make people healthy while we don't care how much money we spend to kill people?
I stand for humanity. I don't blame our failings or our successes on supernatural beings playing cosmic chess games with us. The good and the bad are both us, and that's exactly what's so beautiful about us, even when it's horrifying. The potential to reach the greatest aspects of humanity, then, must be within the power of each of us to choose. If this life is all there is and the rest of humanity is all we've got (and I have no evidence to believe otherwise), then I think that's a hopeful thing rather than a fatalistic one. Why not, then, make this life the best it can be for ourselves, for the greatest possible number of our fellow humans, and for our descendants? And without the cosmic chess players, we're free to recognize that we have the power and the choice to do exactly that.
Love is what I stand for, and this is at least a little bit of what that means for me. I live my life according to this mission: I create a loving world by living, teaching, and welcoming love. If an issue, opinion, or thought works with that mission I am likely to support it. If the issue, opinion, or thought does not fit that mission I am unlikely to support it.
Now, I do live in the real world, and I know that real life means finding compromises. There are often other forces to be balanced against these principles, and compromises will happen. My intention is that my compromises will be intentional and clearly demarcated.
Amidst the chaos and the divisiveness and the violence and the hatred and all the other messes of the world, this is where I stand. Will you stand with me?
At Tiananmen Square, one man standing peacefully but firmly stopped a column of tanks. If it seems that the messes of the world are overwhelming, stand up with me and let's see what metaphorical--or real, for that matter--tanks we can stop.
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