We The People

"We are dangerous when we are not conscious of our responsibility for how we behave, think, and feel." -Marshall B. Rosenberg

Our world is saturated with derogatory commentary in magazines, via social media, on our news networks, and any number of other venues. We are a people who seem adept at tearing one another down in order to prove our point. And often we allow ourselves to use or fall prey to common fallacies (mistaken beliefs; invalid arguments), such as the frequent posts seen on places like Facebook,  where people go after one another for their thoughts and beliefs in regards to any number of topics. Behavior like this is a classic example of Argumentum Ad Hominem, or a personal attack that fits into the abusive category which is defined as follows: (1) Abusive Argumentum Ad Hominem: To argue that proposals, assertions, or arguments must be false or dangerous because they originate with atheists, Christians, Muslims, Communists, Capitalists...etc., or any other group is fallacious. This persuasion comes from irrational psychological transference rather than from an appeal to evidence or logic concerning the issue at hand.

When I taught Social Studies to middle schoolers, during our lessons on the U.S. Constitution, it was common for my students to pontificate on their Constitutional Rights. Freedom of speech always sparked lively debates. I would begin by asking them to explain their rights in words and through visual representation, and then as a whole class we would discuss their conclusions. I would ask, "What is the meaning of free speech as outlined in the First Amendment?" Then, I would hear, "It means in America we have the right to say anything we want." And as long as what "we" say is not liable, slander, or a threat, that is true; however that should not be the end of the lesson. If it is, then we have failed as educators, parents, adults, Americans, and human beings. Just because we can do a thing without fear of going to jail, or worse, doesn't mean we should. Mocking someone for their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, political ideas, looks, gender, etc., is not exercising our right to free speech, it's bullying. Verbally attacking someone because we disagree with them about, well, anything, does not make us intelligent or superior to them. Instead, it makes us look illogical, uneducated, and narcissistic.

The lesson to my students was that "We the people..." have a right and a responsibility to use our voices, but in doing so, we understand that every utterance comes with consequences. Part of our responsibility is not to just spew verbal vomit because we can, but to present and be able to logically defend our position and views on any given topic in a way that makes sense without causing harm. As for understanding the consequences of the words that come from our lips and fingertips...one should not have to tear down others in order to express their views of the world around them. I want my students, my daughters, my nieces and nephews, cousins and everyone else to live in a world of logic, intelligence, tolerance and compassion, where we can freely build up our Earth and each other instead of blindly, cruelly plowing everyone and everything down.

*Logical Fallacies Handlist, http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/fallacies_list.html.

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