A return to better days

I am a Government teacher so I understand and appreciate a person’s Constitutional rights. I get that in order to have certain rights, I have to respect that those rights are afforded to every citizen, whether I agree, disagree, or flat out find their views despicable. That’s the American Way. So I hadn’t thought too much about it when I would drive by people protesting with signs of Congresswoman Gifford’s face in crosshairs, other than to silently think that it’s horrific and wonder what our world was coming to, because, after all, “that is their First Amendment right.” Even after Saturday, January 8th’s horrible massacre at the very same corner that those protesters frequented, I still believe they have that right but am left wondering what has gone wrong in our country that a massacre could happen in the first place. One thing that I have determined is that it used to be that we could rely on people in society to correct others’ bad behavior. We didn’t need media, laws, government or the Constitution to ensure people behaved civilly, we could count on members of our society to keep each other in check; sometimes as easily as with corrective words or escalated to an act of shunning; sometimes as drastically as a punch in the nose. People recognized right and wrong, good taste and bad taste and they were allowed – encouraged – to make sure those in their community followed cultural norms. Somewhere in the recent past this form of checks and balances has become broken. Have we become desensitized? Are we too worried about political correctness? Fear of being sued? Have we become a culture of not wanting to get involved because we’ve seen examples of bad things happening to people who did not sit idly by while events they thought needed correcting were going on around them? Is there too much media sensationalism? I don’t know the answer. What I do know is we need to return to the days of speaking up and saying, “not okay” when people break societal norms and mores. So, protesters – yes, you have a Constitutional right to protest with Gabrielle Giffords’ face in crosshairs, but it’s my societal obligation to tell you that we don’t condone that behavior in my city. Military funeral protesters, you deserve a punch in the nose and it should have happened long ago, the first time you did it, so there wouldn’t have been a second time. I don’t care what you heard on the news or saw on a website, people in civilized societies don’t treat each other that way – period. You can protest to your heart’s content, however, you cannot wish death, even in jest, on anyone or publicly rejoice in someone else’s heartbreak and devastation without the members of your community letting you know that it’s wrong and unacceptable and reaping the consequences on you. We need to get back to being able to agree to disagree and still shake hands at the end of the day and show each other respect and courtesy. Without the ability to do that, I fear for the future of our country.