MLK Day

Tomorrow we celebrate MLK Jr. day in the United States. More than anything, MLK Jr. was a man of conscience. In the United States, there is very little conscience in today's public discourse. It often gets lost in waves of public correctness and fear. Very rarely do people say what they really feel and when they do, it's often out of anger or emotion. I remember a lecture Justice Kennedy gave in my constitutional law class first year of law school on the topic of fundamental rights. He asked the class "what do you believe is a right, and of those things, which rights do you believe should be fundamental?" One of my classmates, Ron A., raised his hand and said he believed food and shelter is a right and should be fundamental.

Justice Kennedy acknowledged that as a decent and worthy ideal and one that he respected before beginning a thoughtful discussion on the US Constitution and its limitations. The decency of that discussion is something that is missing from today's major debates in the United States, namely those on health care and war. That decency derives from conscience. As a person of conscience, a person of faith, it is difficult, in my opinion, to deny the ideal that people deserve food, shelter and health care, even if they are poor, and even if they are wretched.

Many conservatives, despite being people of faith, would not acknowledge that position for fear of ceding any ground in the midst of our 24-hr news cycle political battle royale. That's sad. We should be able to acknowledge that free health care is a worthy ideal in a society of conscience while at the same time being able to articulate reasons why it is not best for that society. We cannot repress our conscience or our inner most feelings as human beings to win elections or harm our political opponents. I cannot sell my humanity that cheaply.

MLK Jr. saw poor people and couldn't remain silent. He saw a war he didn't agree with and had to speak out. Despite being viewed as a leader for racial equality, MLK Jr. spoke out against a plethora of issues. By limiting himself to a single issue, which a lot of our political leaders do in today's modern media age, MLK may have very well been more effective. But to a person of conscience, there is no compromise on your conscience. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. So on MLK Jr. day, let's celebrate his humanity, his conscience by embracing our own.