Some of the most important things I try to illuminate for the people who read my essays, and perhaps also watch the related videos on my YouTube channel, artlife enterprises, are the whole set of concepts that are essential to the republican form of government. To be clear, I am not talking about government by the republican party, but modern, liberal republicanism as a form of government; what I often refer to as “a republic that functions on the democratic process.” This piece is dedicated to what I believe is one of the most, if not the most, important foundational principles of modern republicanism, Freedom of Conscience.
It is worth noting that the principles which form the basis of modern liberal republicanism were developed during the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries in both Europe and America. Simply stated, my definition of Freedom of Conscience is the following:
The Individual must always, at all times, and under all circumstances be free to think whatever they want. Likewise, the individual must also always, at all times, and under all circumstances, be free to believe whatever they want.
This is freedom of conscience, and it lies at the very center of what is known as liberal republicanism as a form of government. It shares this central place with secularism and presumption of innocence before the law, which I shall discuss in other essays.
I know that many conservatives who are reading this essay just cringed at the mention of the word “liberal,” but just as “republican form of government” has nothing to do with the republican party, so use of the term “liberal” here has nothing to do with the democratic party.
So, freedom of conscience is what I stated above, and it is essential to the survival of any republic that these freedoms of thought and belief, no matter how righteous, divine, perverse, good or evil are never regulated or limited in any manner, at any time. A person’s freedom of conscience must be completely unregulated, for as soon as the state assumes the right to regulate what a person thinks or believes, the republic is no more, and the individual and the nation as a whole have been rendered powerless in the face of the state.
However, freedom of conscience must be limited to thought and belief. Freedom of Conscience can never translate directly to freedom of action. The actions of the individual must always be regulated to some extent, for thought and belief exist solely within the vacuum of the individual, but action always exists within the world outside the individual. Actions always have the potential to affect others, and because of this, they must always be subject to some form of regulation.
Most of our actions seem as if they are unregulated, but this is because our actions generally exist within the accepted parameters of social norms, and/or legal restraints, but the necessary regulation is there. Whether the regulation is transparent or opaque, all actions of the individual, whether alone, or in concert with others are rightfully regulated within society. Even those actions to which we are guaranteed the right by our Constitution are regulated in some manner.
One of the most important practical manifestations of the concept of freedom of conscience is that the state does not have the right to tell any individual who that individual’s enemies are, whether they be foreign or domestic. This is something that the individual must always have the right to decide within the confines of their own conscience. All of us must have the right to make the decision as to who is and is not our enemy.
The state has the right inform the individual of those groups, both foreign and domestic, that the state feels work counter to the interests of the state and/or the nation, and hence the individual, but that is all it has the right to do. The state does not have the right to say to anyone; “These people are your enemies, or these people are your friends.” Alas just as in other matters, the mark of the state, of caesar, so to speak, is to try and take what is not his. So rest assured, this right of freedom of conscience will come under siege at some point in the life of this nation.
There is also a very practical manifestation to the point of this essay, which I have just laid out, and it is a discussion of the application of the separateness freedom of conscience and lack of freedom of action as it applies to the intertwined fascist, neo-nazi, and white supremacist movements in America.
The very existence of the right of freedom of conscience means, by default, that fascism and white supremacy in America have every right to exist. Every single individual who thinks fascist and white supremacist thoughts, and holds their core beliefs has the right to do so. They even have the right to freely and peaceably associate with each other. Furthermore, as part of the political process, the fascist, white supremacist movement has the right to put up candidates for elected office.
I need to digress from my central focus for just a second, and tell you of what I have seen in American society. Like all children who suffered thirteen years in the public school system in America, I was taught that America is a place where freedom of conscience exists. However, I saw in my American history classes that in America, in the Post-World War II era, people who held communist beliefs were being arrested, harassed, beaten, and if not being beaten, harassed, and arrested, they were denied, as much as possible, any opportunity to participate in the economy. I never understood this insanely blatant application of a double standard, that Freedom of Conscience exists in America for everyone, except…
Not only that, but America had just fought the most high-intensity conflict the world had ever seen, World War II, against fascism, and five years later we were arresting communists. To be honest, I don’t ever remember a lesson plan in school, that included images or references to any fascists being subjected to violent treatment on a society-wide level throughout the 1950s. I don’t think it happened. Maybe that’s because fascists and white supremacists are, in the end, corporate friendly.
I apologize for that digression, but I thought it was relevant to any discussion of American socio-political philosophy and history. So let us return to to our focus, the current fascist / white supremacist movement in America and how it relates to the freedom of Conscience / Freedom of Action dichotomy. As I have stated, since we live in a secular republic, in which Freedom of Conscience is rumored to exist, fascists and white supremacists have every right to exist, and fascism and white supremacy, as an allied, if not unified political belief, have the right to be part of our political system. This is the marketplace of ideas which is essential, if we are to succeed in our march toward a more perfect union..
Like republicans, democrats, libertarians, democratic socialists, the green party, whomever, fascists and white supremacists have the right to function peacefully within the democratic system. They have the right to put candidates forward for office, and they can advertise in those media outlets that will take their money and conduct business with them. Fascists and white supremacists, like everyone else, have the right to think and believe whatever that want, but their actions to fulfill their designs to amass political power based upon those thoughts and beliefs are, and must be, regulated. As part of that, however, they should be regulated no more and no less than any other political viewpoint.
Fascists and white supremacists have the right to function peacefully and respectfully within the democratic system.
Peacefully and respectfully.
Peacefully and respectfully.
What they do not have the right to do, is bring violence into our political system. Of course, neither does the left, but violence from the left is generally sporadic, impromptu, and narrowly targeted. As such, it is not well funded, or very well organized; hence the actual ‘non-existence’ existence of AntiFa. The violence from the right is not that. The violence of the right, emulating in large measure, from the ultra conservative, fascist / white supremacist movement in America is constant, planned, broadly targeted, well funded, and well organized.
Violence, in varying degrees, has been a constant theme and a characteristic property of fascism and white supremacy throughout their histories. Today, in the United States of America, they are harassing school board members, threatening the lives of electoral system staff members and their families, threatening the lives of elected officials and their families, creating propaganda campaigns to raise doubts about the very validity of our electoral systems, and yes, staging a failed coup d’état. Fascism, white supremacy, neo-nazism and violence all go hand in hand.
To be sure, the actions cited in the last paragraph are an accurate description of what the far right is doing on a daily basis in America right now. This cannot be allowed. Their introduction of violence into the American political environment poses the greatest threat to our republic to date, and these groups have used the rise of trumpism to announce their entrance into the body politic’s visible spectrum.
Violence is one of the primary tools used by fascist movements in their effort to secure power, and it is used freely by white supremacist forces to retain what they see as their power, or at least their station of white privilege. Regardless, the neo-conservative, fascist, white supremacist movement not only employs organized violence as a political tool in our republic, but what is even more dangerous, is that they also possess a political party, the republican party, that seeks to normalize this violence, to make it so frequent, that it becomes accepted political behavior…in a republic that operates on the democratic system.
The question that must be answered is how do we stand against the forces that are bringing violence into America’s political culture? I suggest two means. First, of course, vote. Vote in every election. More importantly, vote for candidates who will stand beside the core principles of liberal republicanism, even if you disagree with them on policy. A politician can always be swayed somewhat on policy, for compromise by adults is how republicanism works and survives. Conversely, politicians can hopefully not be swayed to any degree on the sanctity of this republic and the liberal, foundational principles which gave it birth.
Second, engage in political discourse…like adults. I am convinced that one of the main reasons we find ourselves in a situation in which we actually have an active and growing fascist political movement in this country stems primarily from the right’s forty-five year old war on education. If we are to keep this republic, we must find a way to transform ourselves into a nation that talks everyday civics.
Our right to any meaningful degree of Freedom of Conscience will pass away if we allow the forces of fascism and white supremacy to gain a foothold in our political system through their methods of violence. Not only can we not allow it, but we are the only people who can stop it. Let fascism and white supremacy exist; they have that right. Let them honestly place their beliefs and policy goals out in the marketplace of ideas; they have a right to that also. However, we cannot allow anyone, regardless of what they think or believe, to sweep aside the freedoms that make republicanism as a form of government what it is and can be, in exchange for their dreams of despotism.
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Niemand