Who Will Be the Conscience, Now?

Published: July 22, 2020

By Jim Lichtman
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John Lewis has been memorized as the conscience of the Congress. Who will pick up that mantle, now? Who will stand for principle over political expediency?

The answer is easy but the work will be hard.

WE the people are the conscience of America. We always have been. No matter the crisis, we have always summoned the faith to act.

When we lose that faith; faith in our institutions; faith in the truth; faith in ourselves; we become disillusioned, disconnected. We begin to see ourselves as victims.

But America is stronger than any difficulty, greater than any crisis.

It’s not about making the country great, again. America is about making things better for all, and as we evolved, we have never failed to act: the Declaration of Independence; Bill of Rights; Emancipation Proclamation; the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote; the Civil Rights Act; the Voting Rights Act.

We need to act, again.

We cannot be what we need to be if we don’t accept that we are all immigrants who came to this country for the same promise of liberty, equality and justice for all.

We are the conscience of America.

We need to act out of that conscience in the faith that we can and will be better.

Comments

  1. A few succinct words says it well, Jim. “WE the people are the conscience of America.” Yes we can and must!

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