Disobeying civilly … (07/10/14)
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
He was right, you know — that Martin Luther King Jr. He was right to call out the injustices of his era — right to take a stand against them — right to do so peacefully, and thereby Power-fully.
Well, our generation is now up to bat. Make no mistake, my Friends, even in the United States of America — the “land of the free and the home of the brave” — freedom is lacking, and more than a bit of bravery along with it.
“What?!?!”, I hear Americans cry. “How dare you insult our great country?!? We ARE the land of the free, and we ARE a place where justice reigns supreme.” Well, I hear that national pride knocking, and yet more than few raw & simple facts just won’t let it in.
Don’t get me wrong … I understand the noble sentiment of my American friends, and I do respect their opinion. ON PAPER (and at times still in practice), the United States is indeed still a land of liberty … AND in many, many too-easily-overlooked cases, it most certainly is not. Consider:
*Americans are required to fund their government’s unjust, illegitimate & immoral military conflicts whether they support those terrorist actions or not …
*Americans are sentenced to long prison terms for petty offenses such as marijuana possession, not paying income taxes (an unconstitutional mandate, by the way), and vandalism …
*Americans are convicted of crimes and given longer prison sentences in large part due to the color of their skin …
*Americans have primary food sources that have been manipulated and tainted by large corporations like Monsanto & Nestle — and this with the full support of their elected government officials …
*America is one of the only countries in the world that does not provide adequate health care for ALL its citizens (though the aforementioned elected officials are cared for quite nicely) …
*The American meat & dairy industry is knowingly & purposefully destroying the health of its customers, and indeed the health of our entire planet, with its cruel and environmentally abusive practices …
… and the list goes on & on …
… and the abuses go on & on …
… and still far too few Americans are stepping up to take a stand against them.
My Friends, there is a reason why we revere Mahatma Gandhi & Martin Luther King Jr. … It’s because they got it Right … They saw what was wrong with their societies, and then they became beacons of change.
And when they did, they didn’t merely rant or complain, and they didn’t succumb to the delusion that they could use the system to fix the system. No, we revere these men — and all those men & women who acted then & act today with similar courage & forthrightness — because they ACTIVELY REFUSED TO COMPLY with the injustices they were witnessing.
Well, it’s high time we did the same.
There are literally dozens of causes begging for your civil disobedience. Please join hands with one of them today … Thank you.
“One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.” ~ Howard Zinn
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