We are all responsible for equality and liberty – over the past weeks, the Egyptian people have also proved that they too are willing to be responsible for equality and liberty in their nation as well!
To all those who gave of their lives, and to those who gave their lives as martyrs, it was their sacrifice, their sense of responsibility to their society, that resulted in the dictator Mubarak to stand down today!
The path ahead for Egypt is uncertain for sure, as the military supreme council assumes what some state will be temporary power. But the people of Egypt have spoken and demanded by the many thousands, perhaps millions in the street, that they will struggle for freedom for all.
Let us join the people of Egypt in rejoicing today, and seeking our shared efforts in pursuing the Undiscovered Country of equality and liberty – for all people – everywhere – with our Universal Human Rights!
About the Egyptian protesters, Richard Cohen states in the Washington Post: “We are not them.” I am sorry to disagree, and I believe this is the root of our continuing problems, and our inability to effectively challenge extremist views. We ARE them as fellow brothers and sisters in humanity, with shared universal human rights, human dignity, and human freedom.
We Are Them - We Are Brothers and Sisters in Humanity (Photo: Hassan El Helali)
Especially as Americans, these are the truths that we hold self-evident, that ALL, not SOME, have these universal human rights. Not just those we think who are “ready” for such rights and freedom. Do we believe in this or not?
Mr. Cohen states that “the dream of a democratic Egypt is sure to produce a nightmare” because democracy and democratic values “are worse than useless in societies that have no tradition of tolerance or respect for minority rights.”
I have written many times of the abuses against Coptic Christians in Egypt, and I have stood with them in demanding freedom for their people from the dictator Mubarak. Yes, certainly these abuses start with allowing them to happen among the people. But the Mubarak government and its policy of discrimination, repression, and oppression of the Copts has set the example to institutionalize such discrimination and hate – and it has institutionalized oppression of all Egyptians.
I understand that some fear the increased power of extremists in a future Egyptian government without the dictator Mubarak. However, as the Copts, other Muslims, and intellectuals could easily tell you, the power of extremists who sought to oppress others has been significant during and within the existing Mubarak government. The dictator Mubarak did not care as Copts and Muslims have been oppressed by extremists; moreover, he supported the institutionalization of such oppression. You just need to have been paying attention to Egypt before the protests. When dictatorial governments (as Egypt has has for decades) set the example of oppression as an institution, then one cannot expect democratic values in that society to thrive.
We cannot ask others to aspire to freedom when Americans arrogantly claim to some, no you are not ready for freedom, you are not worthy of such human rights.
Today, on the streets of America’s national capital, Mr. Cohen’s claim is being read that Americans should reject Egyptian human rights because “we are not them.”
In the February 1, 2011 Washington Post, Mr. Cohen claims of the Egyptian protesters, “we are not them,” and continues to claim that America must reject human rights for Egyptians, stating “America needs to be on the right side of human rights. But it also needs to be on the right side of history. This time, the two may not be the same.”
Egyptian Protester Rejects Hypocrisy (Photo: Getty) -- By The Way - So Do Many Americans...
Yet some people will still wonder why some in other parts of the world hate Americans.
We must hang our heads in shame at such anti-human rights statements by Richard Cohen, Violent Extemism Watch, and other groups that claim that everyone, including the Egyptian protesters, do not deserve our shared universal human rights. This is not the America I know and not the land of the free and the home of the brave. Those who seek to turn our nation into one of quaking cowards that call for denying human rights and mass murder against others, even if we disagree with some, do not understand what it means to be an American.
So I will simply let America’s founding fathers respond to such outrageous and shameful statements. Let us hear what America’s founding fathers said about what our values, principals, and even identity is as Americans.
This is the “American” position on such human rights, freedom, democracy and human dignity.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”
To Americans who may have forgotten this, remember when we decided to become Americans this was our founding declaration. We did not declare that only some deserve these rights, but that ALL deserve these rights. Americans did so, because even before we were Americans – we are them – we are our fellow brothers and sisters in humanity who deserve the same rights around the world.
These are the truths that we hold self-evident, even if there are those today who have forgotten them.
Be Responsible for Equality And Liberty – for All.
