This morning on my blog (www.dominantreality.blogspot.com) I suggested that anyone who supported making English the national language was a racist. I did so in great anger and frustration. Anger that causes me to recall a great scene in the movie "Billy Jack" where Billy is about to pummel the villian Bernard but recognizes that he shouldn't. Billy says to Bernard...
"Bernard, I want you to know... that I try. When Jean and the kids at the school tell me that I'm supposed to control my violent temper, and be passive and nonviolent like they are, I try. I really try. Though when I see this girl... of such a beautiful spirit... so degraded... and this boy... that I love... sprawled out by this big ape here... and this little girl, who is so special to us we call her 'God's little gift of sunshine'... and I think of the number of years that she's going to have to carry in her memory... the savagery of this idiotic moment of yours... I just go BERSERK!"
The thing is Jean and the kids are right.
It does no good to combat hatred with more hatred. If I think about it there are a number of people whom I love who favor making English the National Language. They are not naturally mean-spirited people. They are just wrong. And, we can only win these debates by pointing out why they are wrong.
In these times people often ask What Would Jesus Do (WWJD) or What Would Leo Do (WWLD). I think the only way to evaluate important social issues is to ask in what kind of world do I want my grandchildren to live. I'm not arrogant enough to think I can figure out what Jesus would do, or Leo for that matter. But, I do have an idea regarding what kind of world I want my grandchildren to live in.
I want my grandchildren to have the opportunity to achieve a depth of knowledge, a depth of understanding, and a depth of compassion about the world that is beyond what any generation before them has accomplished.
Let me explain further. About 15 years ago our local school district Board of Education was taken over by a bunch of back to basics individuals who thought they knew more about how to educate our children then the professionals in our schools did. At one point, I was sitting in a room with a bunch of concerned citizens who were trying to come up with a slogan for the campaign to unseat these individuals and a woman made a brilliant suggestion -- "Basics Plus More."
We won that election in dramatic fashion. This community decided that it expected more from its system of public education than basic math, english and science. We expected more because we want more than that for our children.
Here is the relevance to the language debate. I want more for my grandchildren. I want my grandchildren to live in a world where a person learns an additional language themselves if they want to communicate with more people. You don't expect someone else to learn your language, you learn their language first. In so doing, you expand your knowledge, understanding, and compassion for others.
I want my grandchildren to live in a place where personal responsibility means meeting persons that are different than you are on their terms, not forcing them at gun point to come to your terms.
I see this not as liberal wishy washiness. I see this as expecting my grandchildren to be part of the most advanced civilization of all time. Such a civilization could not be a place where only one language, or one culture ruled or even dominated.
We have allowed our society's ambitiousness to be dumb-downed. It is now acceptable to express racist, divisive thoughts. The term politically correct is used to make politeness and kindness sound like bad things.
I expect my grandchildren to learn to respect others and treat them accordingly. That's not political correctness that my friends is true divinity.
We elect persons who we want to drink a beer with, not by any standard of competency. By doing so, don't we get what we pay (vote) for -- the most incompetent government in the history of our nation.
Shouldn't we expect more of ourselves? Shouldn't we be telling people that announcing a National language is like declaring ourselves ignorant? It certainly is a declaration of laziness, isn't it?
We seek greater knowledge, not lesser tolerance. With greater knowledge, our quality of life is improved and with such goals in mind the lives of our grandchildren are certain to be better than our own.
Civilization goes backwards when it demeans expanded knowledge, understanding, and compassion. Certainly, history bares this out.
Civilization expands and the quality of human existence improves when society values increased knowledge, understanding, and compassion.
So, we can build walls. We can make English the National language. We can deport the so-called "illegals." We can declare Anglo-saxon, English, Christian beings the dominant culture in this society. Or, we can expect greater knowledge, understanding, and compassion from ourselves.
It is after all still about the Basics Plus More. We want "More" don't we. Don't we want our children to understand our own heritage for these reasons? Wouldn't understanding the heritage of others just increase their humanity? Wouldn't such understanding improve their lives economically also?
So, to my friends who I called racists this morning... I am very sorry. But, for our children and grandchildren can't we agree to expand knowledge, not restrict it? Can't we decide that our children and grandchildren should learn all the languages of the world if need be? Wouldn't they be better for it? Wouldn't the world be better for it?