Saturday, September 11, 2010

Who Would Sign the Declaratiuon of Independence Today?

Some thoughts...
At our college, Education majors sometimes put up sample bulletin boards as class assignments. In my opinion, the best one (at least so far!) was one put up last year and themed on the Declaration of Independence. There was a section of the board where people were invited to sign. I did, as did at least one of my colleagues.

This may not be an uncommon thought, but who would sign such a document today? Indeed, the signers did take a tremendous risk in doing so. But today, with the poisonous political climate and intolerant dialog about about certain religions, I thought about this again.

Would you sign the Declaration of Independence, knowing it said "all men are created equal?" Remember all means all - not just ones like you or like "us." Would you sign knowing that this equality would extend to those who worship differently from you? Would you sign knowing that this equality would extend to those of different ethnic backgrounds from yours? Would you sign knowing this equality would extend those of different sexual orientation from yours? And what about us women? Would you sign if it specifically said "all men and women are created equal?"

The President just reminded us this is "one nation." Will we see that all are treated equally under the law? That was the vision, even though the Founding Fathers fell short on really putting it into practice. That was the fight and struggle through the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement. That was the dream of Rev. Dr. King and so many others. It's still an unrealized dream for some Americans. So who would sign the Declaration of Independence today? Would you?