Today is Independence Day and I’m worried—as I often am—about
the horrible things being done in our name, the freedoms being worn away bit by
bit, the irreparable damage being done to desperate families, individuals, and our
environment.
And let me be frank, this comes from my gut. I don’t claim to
have all the answers.
But while we still have free speech and a democracy in place,
I think today is good day to remember that the people “in charge” only have the
power we give them.
The president can’t stand at every border crossing taring
children from the arms of desperate parents fleeing violence, war, famine and
persecution. Someone has to do it for him.
The CEO of a mining company isn’t personally going to strip-mine
our national monuments for minerals or dump waste into rivers. Someone has to
do it for him.
I can’t help but recall the saying that “Good people made
the best Nazis”—obedient people who went along with what they were told and “just
followed orders”. I hope we can grow to be better than that.
I think we should just say no.
I’m certainly not the first person to come up with this
idea. Maybe people are afraid or forget this is an option.
And of course, it’s hard.
And the people whose NO will mean the most are probably facing consequences
that any one of us would dread—lack of employment, loss of benefits, or even
legal consequences. They have families to support, need to eat and keep a roof
over their heads.
So, the other thing we need to do is support people in a position
to say NO.
Imagine if families and communities said, if you refuse to
do something because it’s wrong, we’ll support you and we’re in it for the long
haul.
Imagine if people knew that they would not be alone if they
refused to:
- Steal a refugee’s child
- Create the infrastructure to dump pollutants into waterways
- Publicly deny climate change despite the science
- Turn firehoses on peaceful protesters
- Stay silent when injustice is done
Imagine if, at family BBQs today and through the summer,
people talked about what they would do if faced with the choice—and what they
would do to support someone faced with the choice.
Families could have a plan. Neighbors could have a plan. Houses of worship and other groups could have a plan.
People could say, if you need to say no:
- We’ll call ALCU or SPLC for you.
- We’ll look after your family.
- We’ll help you look for another job.
- We’ll make sure you’ve got food on the table.
- We’ll make sure the press knows you don’t stand alone.
The other side is loud and the sheer volume of the hate and
fear they spout makes them seem like they outnumber everyone. But quiet
conversations of support may be a way to turn the tide. And later, concentrated
efforts to make sure that people who are courageous enough to say no to doing
wrong are not left to face the consequences alone. Imagine if people felt
empowered to do what’s right because of example upon example of people who said
no and came out—if not unscathed, at least shielded as much as possible.
I think a lot of us go to bed at night thinking, “there just
has to be more of us than them.” And “someone has to DO
something.”
Maybe this is something we can do. We can start today at BBQs
meant to celebrate all we’re supposed
to be.
