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| Marcus Tullius Cicero pleads for the Republic |
The quote from Cicero's Philippic (I v ii) sticks in my mind like a bad dream, or recollections of some early undergraduate sociology class. Roman matrons used to frighten their children into submission with it the same way my cousin Helen, the daughter of Irish immigrants, used to keep us children away from the railroad tracks with stories about changelings and the maleficent Tuatha De Danin. "Hannibal is at the Gate!" was calculated to chill the blood of any Roman who knew his or her history. While I generally seek to keep this blog open for the posting of sermons and light devotional ephemera, today I sense something of a responsibility to point out that it is a personal blog and not a church or parish blog, and to speak as a citizen who, like the others members of his family for many generations, has served this Republic faithfully. I stress that these are personal opinions, and do not reflect the opinions of my employers, my ecclesial or fraternal memberships, or any other relationships I may have now or in the future. People who disagree with me are not necessarily un-Christian or un-American. These are my personal concerns.
My parents reared me to believe that government should be "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Those sentiments were reinforced in Public schools in Randolph County Indiana, at Asbury College in Kentucky, and in the Army. While I've never been a real fan of pure democracy (it smacks a bit too much of mob violence and electoral oppression of minorities for my liking), I've always thought that Constitutionally limited Republics which took into account the great lessons of western history, and considered the intellectual and spiritual traditions of the Jews and the Christians, were probably the best form of government we are likely to ever have, given the propensity of our species to sin and selfish behavior. And even as the least bad option, I've considered them almost certain to produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people, particularly if they take seriously the concepts enshrined in "The Wealth of Nations" and "Democracy in America."
The headlines of the last few weeks have seriously troubled me, and caused me to ask whether or not "Hannibal" and those forces of despotism and tyranny which he represented to the average Citizen of Rome, is not indeed "at the gates." First there was the debacle at Benghazi. Try as I might to understand the deeper events of that week, it looks to me like our government left soldiers and diplomats on the ground to die when the outcome could have been different, and then lied to all of us about it. And then there is that ongoing bit about the expanded domestic use of drones and how long it took an appointee to high office to simply say that he did not believe that the US government has the right to kill an American citizen who is not actively involved in operations against the United States. And now the Internal Revenue Service admits what has been rumored for years, that groups of citizens were knowingly targeted for audit because of their political opinions. And I cannot omit the propensity of many of our elected leaders (a majority in fact) to excuse themselves from the laws they pass for the benefit of the rest of us.
When I was much younger, elected and appointed officials of the US government were brought to some semblance of justice for abuse of authority and the arrogance which led them to think themselves above the law. I am always slow to make assumptions, because to do so is not logical, but I wonder if we are not close to that point again, and I wonder how our nation will respond this time around. I cannot believe that this is a one party or single administration issue, and my gut tells me that we have a serious systemic presence of evil in our nation which regularly considers itself above the rule of law and constitutional authority. I pray that in the weeks and months to come, justice will prevail and the constitutional heritage of this Republic will again be triumphant. Great reforms which seek to overthrow or change systems scare me to death, but given our historic commitment to the belief that the law is for everyone, and that the purpose of the constitution is to limit the excesses which often flow from the possession of power, popularity, and wealth (none of which are necessarily bad things when used according to the precepts of natural law and revealed religion), I am unwilling to give up hope that we will work through our problems and hold the guilty responsible both at the polls and in the courts.
Pro Republica!
Bill
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