It does not take a majority to prevail...
but rather an irate, tireless, minority
keen on setting brush fires of freedom
in the minds of men.
Powerful words, penned by Samuel Adams.
But is that it? An irate America declared and won its freedom from the Monarchy in the 1770’s. The Union fought for and won freedom for slaves of all minorities in the 1860’s. Americans again lit brush fires to end segregation in the 1960’s.
No period in history ever achieves the “positive absolute.” Each era slowly, often painfully, transitions from one dominant way of thinking to the next. Sometimes, we hope more often than not, we get closer to, though never reach, the positive absolute. Perhaps one or two scorching fires per century is about all an evolving culture can absorb.
Unfortunately today we find more cultural brush fires burning than Southern California’s Santa Ana season. Adams’ irate, tireless minorities are at work everywhere, fanatical firebugs, hiring lawyers, organizing marches, printing posters and tweeting like nests full of hungry canaries. But many fight for freedoms they already have.
Unfortunately today we find more cultural brush fires burning than Southern California’s Santa Ana season. Adams’ irate, tireless minorities are at work everywhere, fanatical firebugs, hiring lawyers, organizing marches, printing posters and tweeting like nests full of hungry canaries. But many fight for freedoms they already have.
In 21st Century America, are gays not free to be gay? Are atheists not free to mock God? Are not environmentalists free to protest on behalf of fish and bugs? Are not Native Americans free to protest against professional sports teams’ names and heralds? Are not trans-gender people free to be? Are not muslims free to exercise their religion? Are not minority races free? Are not women, who we are told actually constitute the majority in America, free? Freedom they have, and with rare exceptions, safety under the law.
Yet, many go on preaching the myth that society inhibits them from freely exercising their chosen paths. But surely society cannot be blamed for what reluctance individuals may have to freely pursue their lifestyle. Does not The Constitution guarantee each is free to walk his or her own path?
Methinks what already-free minorities crave most of all is acceptability and fame. Fame comes to some degree with the lighting of Adams’ brush fires. Acceptability, on the other hand, has a way of eluding their grasp. The reason is tradition. The First Amendment of this very same Constitution guarantees an equal right to express disdain for non-traditionalists as non-traditionalists express for traditionalists. So while the law guarantees one is free to choose a non-traditional path, it also guarantees critics are free to use their own rhetoric and ideas to oppose questionable change. Non-traditionalists are quick to use their Constitutional guarantees of
freedom to achieve their goals; even quicker to cry foul when the other
side employs its guarantees to oppose them. Yes, they like The Constitution when it supports them, but when it supports the other side... not so much.
Some historians criticize Samuel Adams for what they judge as emotional propaganda which resulted in unnecessary deaths in the years leading up to America’s Revolution. It’s all a matter of perspective. Either way, common sense America must not pour fuel on fire, to insure Adams’ brush fires are not stoked by the irate on either side. So far, with some notable exceptions, we have done a fair job. But there is always the danger that these little brush fires spread, joining together to become terribly destructive human infernos which nations suffer from time to time.
