Wayne
Manning I want to use my turn in this space today to thank Craig Dennis and the Auburn Journal for making it available. As those of you who read this column regularly know, there is a wide diversity of religious thought expressed here nearly every Friday. It is a wonderful thing that each of us who write here can express ourselves freely and openly. These columns are not newspaper-driven or state-driven like such columns are in some other parts of the world. That’s huge. So thank you, Craig and Tom and Deric and Carol, and all the Journal staff. We Americans have more rights of self-determination
than perhaps any society before us. We often describe them as “God-given
rights.” That’s appropriate. Most of us who have a faith practice
believe in some version of the concept of being created “in the image
and likeness of God,” whatever we think might have happened after.
Inherent in this belief are enormous powers of self-expression There are two conditions, I think, that are required
if we want to preserve these rights of self-determination. First, we must
practice the art of self-expression daily in our lives. By this I mean be
pro-active in our living, not just reactive. Be problem solvers rather
than wait for someone else to solve our problems for us. Speak out about
important issues rather than feeling and thinking, “I can’t make a
difference.” In a religious context prayer is our greatest tool in
exercising authentic self-expression. Spiritual guidance that comes from
within, that is often at odds with the “world’s wisdom,” is an
important dynamic in how we show up in life. Second, we must extend this same right of
self-expression to others, if we are to preserve our own. All others. No
exceptions. (Let’s be clear
that the context here is that of self-expression within the bounds of the
commonly held mores and ethical standards of our society.) That which we
are not willing to grant others we cannot hold for ourselves. Another way
to say it is in the language of the oft-quoted Golden Rule: “Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you.” We have an opportunity to do that globally as we
collectively think about how we establish international relationships. We
do that locally as we observe and comment on current events right here in
Auburn. There is a lot of buzz this week about the coming City Council
election and how some opinions are being expressed. These God-given rights
of self-determination and expression are what allow Randy Wall to put up a
sign of his choice on his property. These same rights allow Tom Brady and
Dale Smith and others to write letters of opposition. These same rights
allow candidates of different perspectives and ideologies to campaign for
public office. These same rights allow me to say this the way I see it. Can you imagine what it would be like if we somehow
prohibited any one of these expressions? Can you see that if we shut down
another’s right to free expression, even in our minds, that we put our
own rights at risk? I hope you join me in celebrating what’s happening
here in the big picture: passionate Americans expressing themselves
without fear of reprisal, willing to live with the consequences of public
opinion. I hope you join me in celebrating one of our greatest freedoms on
November 5, as we collectively decide which issues we support or deny, and
who our leaders will be. I hope you join me in offering a prayer of
thanksgiving to the God of your choice that this enormous power is ours to
wield as free citizens in a free society.
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