Razing Arizona

In rereading the history of Jefferson's election to the presidency in 1801, I am reminded that politics is a very nasty business.  Philosophies of government and natural rights are often lofty and inspirational, leading us to revere the high-minded achievements that have resulted in the America we claim to know and love. But at its core, politics is a device employed by human beings nevertheless capable of the very destructive and seductive impulses that produce tyranny, be it soft or hard.
 
Take this new Arizona bill. S.B. 1062, in short, is designed to provide a measure of protection to business owners who wish to run their businesses in accordance with their religious convictions. Basically, it offers them the opportunity to use their beliefs as a defense in court should they be sued for refusing to provide a service that violates their religious conscience. While I don't intended to dive into any of these specifically, I encourage you to read the following links on the matter, in the interest of context (don't be turned off by the titles - there is reasoned and rational information in each link):

Arizona Capital Times: Reality vs. Rhetoric in the SB1062 Debate
Arizona Capital Times: ASU Law Prof: SB1062 'means almost nothing'
The State Press: SB 1062 Offers Warped View of Religious Freedom
The Matt Walsh Blog: Yes, Of Course a Business Owner Should Have the Right to Refuse Service to Gay People

I can see the argument from both sides, to be sure. The vitriol is a flash fire burning out of control, and Arizona is being razed and excoriated with vehemence. No matter the outcome of the bill, there will be no "victory" for believers in this battle, or in any battle, where new laws issued by governments grant new "rights" with regard to religious belief. Natural rights, and those ensconced by the First Amendment, are no longer a sufficient defense against the forces at work, even though they should be. Rights issued by governments can be taken away. There has never been a time in our nation's history where the boundaries of freedom, liberty, and religion have not been at the flashpoint of our conflicts. The pendulum swings, sometimes decidedly. It remains to be seen if it swings back, or if it has been severed from its pivot.

What dismays me most is the effect this has on our society, our communities. Too many of us are now conditioned to see at work only the worst intentions of our neighbors, which may or may not always be the truth. To choose sides in any single matter is to be declared by the other as an enemy combatant in all matters. Tyranny of this sort, from such there is no escape, except by the rediscovery of grace.

This is the nature of our politics.  I submit that our history reveals that it has always been so.  For all of the evidence of the better angels of our nature, much more so is the evidence of our demons.  

This may yet be a government of the people, by the people, for the people, but it is clear that as people, we remain most decidedly, wickedly human.

Heaven have mercy on us.

An Excerpt in Search of an Essay

I like history. I wish I could get paid to just sit around and read, ruminate, and occasionally pontificate on the subject. But alas, no such freedom for me at this juncture of my life.

Currently, I am about 100 pages into Jon Meacham's biography on Thomas Jefferson. In the first pages, I latched on to a single quote that sent me down a philosophical trail that as yet has no clear destination, but remains a journey I am nonetheless enjoying very much. From Jon Meacham, on the subject of the study of Thomas Jefferson:

"... and if we are to understand what he was like, and what life was like for him, then we must see the world as he saw it, not as how we know it turned out."

I have turned that over and over in my mind, of late, as it captures well what I have long thought with regard to a proper study of history's figures and events: that the best view is a panoramic not from a single vantage point, but from a great many. Indeed, I am in a desperate search for the proper mathematical representation to explain this concept or approach to historical study. Even the great Google is no help to me in solving that puzzle, to my great dismay. Alas.

This philosophical trail has thus far produced a nugget, an excerpt, for which no essay has yet been developed. Maybe I will find a place for it someday, but for now, it must stand on its own as a fragment of an idea. A piece of a picture that is yet incomplete. And it is simply this:

There can be no one single, authoritative source for history. Such would be a singular view, as if one were to look out a single, rectangular window to the western expanse and be convinced that there is nothing more beyond that which the eyes can see, all the while missing what lies to the north, south and east. It matters not how large the window. The fullness of history must come from multiple angles of view, through the myriad of voices across the passage of time. It is through this panoramic that we may escape the danger of romanticizing the subjects of our study, and instead seed our passions for the study itself. For even our greats are flawed, compromised morally, and that frequently. It is this truth that makes their accomplishments all the more noteworthy, even and especially despite the sometimes unsavory qualities and disastrous consequences that lace their narratives. Yet the least of our least, too, have stories that leave their indelible mark, moments of honor, even if fleeting. Should we not celebrate all and the fullness thereof, or must we obscure the undesired in favor of summary judgment, good or ill?

The latter is easy. The former takes time, and a willingness to take in the full panoramic, even if it means standing in uncomfortable places.

I would love to elaborate on what this means. As yet, I'm still working through it. So why publish it now? One reason: I may never come back to it, or if I do, too much time will have passed for me to remember the particulars of the journey of thought that produced it.

So don't be surprised if you see this formulation again. For it is indeed an excerpt in search of an essay.