Freedom

April 28, 2024

This coming week, in the midst of all the news about noisy chaos on many American college campuses, I’m traveling to Philadelphia to listen to the silent call of the Liberty Bell.

Sometimes protests have beneficial results, such as those that led to the American Revolution and the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. And at other times, civil disobedience can lead to unintended consequences, as when the Berkeley Free Speech Movement of 1964 – 65 created a backlash that helped elect Ronald Reagan as governor of California, and when the race riots and later the anti-war demonstrations and police violence at the Democratic convention in Chicago in 1968 assisted the presidential campaign of Richard Nixon that year.

With the Democratic convention once again in Chicago later this summer, will the pro-Palestine demonstrators attempt to disrupt that event as they have been doing on college campuses recently, thereby creating a law and order backlash that helps elect Donald Trump? Seems likely.

Although the left wing pro-Palestine groups have so far not been nearly as violent as the mob of right wing Trump supporters who tried to overthrow our democracy on January 6, 2021, there have been many incidents of intimidation of and threats against Jews by some of the more fanatical elements of that anti-Israel movement. One thing that seems to unite the far left and the far right is their demonization of Jews.

At least two of my Jewish friends have experienced antisemitic incidents in recent weeks, and others have been newly frightened by the rise of anti-Jewish hate that is becoming more prevalent in this country and around the world.

A couple of nights ago I attended a comedy show featuring a hilarious Jerry Seinfeld. While his impeccable timing, expressive body language, and humorous stories about the everyday foibles of human beings made his audience roar with laughter, I noticed that, in addition to the normal event security, he was protected by two armed sheriff’s deputies hidden in the wings. While many comedians have hired extra security staff after actor Will Smith assaulted comedian Chris Rock onstage at the Oscars a couple years ago, I can’t help but wonder if Seinfeld or other Jewish comedians feel the need for extra protection due to the “Death to the Jews!” slogans sometimes heard at pro-Palestine rallies.

When our Founding Fathers enshrined free speech in our Constitution, they clearly did not intend for the total absence of restraint that often characterizes the behavior of far right and far left champions of hatred and intolerance. Freedom is not the same as anarchy, although some deluded individuals believe that their sense of freedom entitles them to engage in various forms of disrespect, threats, and even violence aimed at those with whom they disagree.

If we cannot behave with greater civility toward one another, we will get more chaos, followed by fascism.

But it is my hope that, even if we do lose our democracy for a while, the embers of freedom will stay alive in that winter of our discontent.

A good way to keep our democracy intact is to appreciate the tremendous sacrifices made by our Founding Fathers , the soldiers at Valley Forge and Gettysburg and elsewhere, and those Americans of goodwill who listen to what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of our nature.”

So I’m off to Philly on Wednesday to commune with Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and the Liberty Bell. Gotta keep my standards high.