The American Republic Is the Last Bastion of True Tolerance

Original article here

One of the perplexing aspects of the American character is how, despite our many domestic challenges, we like to import the world’s thorny issues into our political debates. This is not a critique of discussing such problematic issues, such as the Israel-Hamas conflict. It is a celebration of, and a clarion call for, the First Amendment’s recognition and protection of the God-given right of free speech (which, as I have asserted previously, is implicitly a recognition and protection of the God-given right to the freedom of conscience).

What makes this possible is a citizen’s understanding and performance of their duty—an ethical and a legal one, as a matter of fact—to tolerate the speech with which they disagree. This, of course, does not require one to listen, only to allow the other to speak, and, importantly, to reject anything and anyone who would try to silence or intimidate another citizen’s right to free speech.

In sum, then, what is required is not acceptance, but tolerance. This is an elementary concept. Yet, as with so many seemingly simple propositions, it is arduous in practice for many citizens. Regrettably, as is often the case with contentious domestic issues, fractious international issues can lead some partisans of a particular position to feel entitled, for whatever selfish rationale, to transgress the bounds of tolerance at the expense of not only a targeted, disagreeing fellow citizen but also the continuance of our American Republic as the last bastion of true tolerance.

Therefore, it is the enduring duty of all Americans to defend against the coercion, intimidation, and/or infringement of every citizen’s God-given rights, including the free speech rights of those with whom they disagree.

Amidst the heated debate over the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, I personally experienced two instances where friends felt intimidated by the tenor of the times and, sadly, some of their fellow citizens.

As is our habit, I took a monthly morning walk with my friend, “The Learned One,” who is Jewish. In the course of our stroll, he spoke of the rising anti-Semitism in the world. He was particularly saddened and distressed by the resurgence of this ancient scourge in the United States, which, on the whole, he had considered a sanctuary from it. Indeed, the increase in anti-Semitism had reached the point where my friend felt wearing a yarmulke made him a target for verbal and, potentially, physical violence at the hands of some intemperate fellow citizens.

Yet hiding or not wearing his yarmulke (also called a kippah) was not an option, as he wears it to signify his obedience to and reverence for God. And, as he also noted in defiance of those who would deny and impair his rights, “This is still America.”

Sometime later, I received a call from an old friend who is Lebanese and operates a law practice in Dearborn, Michigan. He told me how he had similar conversations with his Jewish friends and articulated his disgust that his friends had been put in this position by their fellow citizens. But he had another conversation he wanted to share with me.

Many of his clients are Arab-Americans, most of whom are Muslims. One young lady asked him if, despite her devout observance of Islam, she should stop wearing her veil in public. He asked me what I would tell her.

Now, my friend well understood the legal maxim that when one American’s life and liberty are endangered, every American’s life and liberty are endangered, regardless of whether it be by a tyrannical government or by the reprehensible actions of their fellow citizens. But he was not asking me a legal question. He was looking for validation of a practical resolution. So, I told him I would give her the same advice my friend no doubt did: “Wear it. This is still America.”

And so our American Republic remains the last bastion of true tolerance and a citadel of human liberty, with much progress to be proud of and much still to improve upon. If you disagree, you will not have my ear, let alone my concurrence, but you will have my tolerance and my personal vow to defend, to the death, your right to say it.

After all, this is still America.

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An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003 to 2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles, a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars, and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances.