Foundations of Hope
Hope Springs Eternal “It’s a new world, but it’s the same Constitution.” This was Chief Justice Roberts’ remark while questioning the hate-filled and uninformed argument by a Trump lawyer to destroy the 14th Amendment this week. It happened to coincide with Passover and Easter which got me thinking about the foundations of hope rooted in traditions. At this moment in the life of our Republic we despair, But it is springtime and we get the chance to recognize foundational truths, reject despair, and start anew. Dark Times
We have watched the president attempt to destroy the Constitution through executive orders. We have seen him go to war without consent of Congress, threatened our Allies and supported our enemies. We have witnessed the Department of Defense turned into a Department of War that gleefully embraces potential war crimes, an abandonment of ethical and professional standards, while using “religion” to pray that they get to kill people they don’t like as violently and ruthlessly as possible and jokingly pray for the death and crucifixion of a Democratic candidate for Senate.
There is war profiteering, blatant corruption, massive gaps in wealth inequality, opportunity, and the application of justice. Warehouses (concentration camps) are being planned for massive deportations without due process. Although justified as tools to targeting immigrants and “criminals”, once established, they can be used as tools of power to destroy democratic freedom.
The government is compiling lists of illegal immigrants, voter rolls, political enemies, and now by Trump order, lists of Jews who work at UPENN under the flimsy guise of fighting antisemitism. We know why governments compile lists and the objective is not good. It seems that darkness is spreading amongst us. And yet…
Freedom from Tyranny All of these crimes and attacks on humanity are nothing new or inventive. Just cruel. There is massive backlash. Millions marched worldwide in peaceful and joyful assertion of “no kings”. We the People are saying no because the foundation of our hopes and aspirations are guided by the rejection of tyranny – from hate-filled ideas or from unethical leaders willing to sacrifice us and others for their own greed. We choose freedom, human dignity, and the rejection of enslavement.
Below: At "No Kings" demonstration in Keene, NH a tent with sides open to all shields a Constitutional flag.
Passover brings Jews together to celebrate freedom from slavery and their responsibilities to freedom after the violence it took to be wrenched away from a tyrant. Immigrants and descendants of immigrants are able to celebrate their traditions because they have found safe haven, an ark, in the land of the American experiment.
For Christians, Easter celebrates victory over enslavement by sins and over the power of empires. It's a time for new clothes, chocolate bunnies, and delicious meals with family.
For Muslims, spring brings Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Ramadan fast. It is a time of charity to the poor, being with family and friends, celebrating with new clothes, and eating well.
All are resurrection stories – of creating something new and better from what had happened before. Of embracing the joys of life and finding empathy. Each celebrates spring, a time of rebirth and hope.
The Constitution is our secular version of celebrating freedom from tyranny. It enshrines the idea that people are citizens not subjects. Like Passover and Easter It is a document that provides a floor to stand on but no limits on the ceiling of what can be achieved. All are about ongoing dignity, freedom, joy, and caring. They transcend moments in time, like the one we are facing now.
Even baseball, to me the metaphoric bedrock sport of democratic life, opens with hope. Opening day is the moment of saying, “maybe this year”. This year is now and will culminate in November.
My Turn This past weekend I was with an immigrant, U.S. citizen, Holocaust survivor, a guide and dear friend as we showed her movie, “Hidden: The Kati Preston Story”. Her story is about surviving evil (almost none of her family did) while hiding in a barn in Transylvania and overcoming hate – hate both pointed at her and flourished in her afterwards as a victim. It was the goodness of a neighbor and her courage that saved her.
It too is a resurrection story. Not only did she reclaim life from the darkness of hiding she also freed herself from a victim’s hate that could have consumed and destroyed her. She survived the Holocaust, post war Communism, and found freedom in The U.S.
And so, it also reveals how immigrants find freedom here and through their work, contributions, and diverse stories help us to recognize our responsibility to raise the ceiling of what is possible. We cannot despair.
Elie Wiesel once wrote, “Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.”
We are witnessing vileness, cruelty, greed, and hate. It’s by remembering that, reflecting on it, standing in witness against it, and doing so with our friends and neighbors, that we rediscover spring. We will celebrate hope again. We recognize what is at stake and are more focused on the courage that is needed to rebuild our lives anew.
