To the editor:

As a writer, I wrestle with how to be a constructive voice in divisive times. Across the spectrum, instead of constructive discourse, we respond to one another with outrage and vitriol. We would seek to suppress voices of dissent rather than respect their right to speak, even if it is a message we do not agree with.

Indeed, our history as a nation is far from pure. Too often, our treatment of others has not lived up to the ideals upon which our forefathers established this nation 250 years ago. Many of our ancestors, though, from across the world, came to this land because of the belief that these ideals offered them a chance at a better life than they might find in their own homelands. Many, of course, did not come by choice, but still worked and fought tirelessly to challenge the nation to live up to these ideals, because they believed those ideals were worth fighting, and dying, for.

You do not have to agree with someone’s opinion to support their right to have a voice. Supporting an individual’s right to express their own cultural voice does not mean it suppresses or threatens your own. Indeed, we are a melting pot. Diversity of culture is one of the things that should make our nation such a beautiful place. Indeed, I am blessed to have friends and family from across the political and cultural spectrum, and I believe my own life is a richer, more vibrant place because of it.

My father, grandfather and many, many friends and family have laid their lives on the line to defend the best of the ideals, and to give us a chance to find common ground of accountability when we struggle to live up to them. We are a nation of laws, but should never be a place where we expect someone to lose their own identity to fit in.

We are better as a nation when we allow for all voices to be heard, and to engage in discourse regarding those voices. We do not accept or tolerate injustice, but fight for all, not just for those with whom we share an ideological or cultural heritage. Once we seek to silence one voice, we risk the silencing of all voices. And that is a nation I never want to see.

Pursuit of these ideals does not mean we accept every choice everyone makes. But it does mean we pursue discourse over vitriol, dialogue over hatred. It means holding each other, ourselves, and our leaders, to the highest possible standards to which these ideals beckon us. It means expecting that we will treat one another with kindness, respect, and dignity, and holding one another, and our leaders, regardless of ideological persuasion, to that same standard.

Indeed, as a nation, we often fall short. Too many times, indeed, we’ve given in to the worst of our natures when it comes to how we treat one another. But one of the incredible strengths of our nation is the ability to challenge each other, and ourselves, to be better, to live better, to love better, and to serve one another more humbly, to ensure that everyone living and yet to live, has the opportunity to experience the best of the ideals for which our founding fathers challenged each other to live.

As for me, I believe in a Savior who had showed the grace and sacrifice to give His life for me when I was at my worst. In a nation to which He has granted liberty, how I can I show any less to others? I choose to be a voice of reason and hope in a time of great madness!

I choose to stand for what is right, even when what is right is not what is popular. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” – Micah 6:8, NIV.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

– Emma Lazarus, 1883

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

– Declaration of Independence, signed July 4, 1776

Daniel Kiewel

Great Bend