R Jelich

Most people say morality doesn't change. It is set.
The thing is that the morality may not change, but the meaning of words may. So, the morality applies in a different way then it used to, although it hasn't changed.

An ancient AND modern example of this is slavery. The Bible, the Talmud, the Quran all talk about slavery, and it was OK back when they were written. But, in the last thousand years or so we have redefined "men" to mean "All Humans", so where "man" or "men" appear in historic texts, we automatically swap out the original meaning to our more inclusive modern meaning.

Back then, "men" were a special group all the laws talk about, and the other groups were not talked about (much) since they didn't have rights because they were not "men", they were property.

Making this more inclusive required a change of treatment to people of color and women. It has not been an easy road, lots of reluctance to change is built into the system. You can see this by our country needing to have a Women's right to Vote (19th Amendment) codified in our constitution. The Emancipation Proclamation (Presidential Executive Order) stated that all persons held as slaves are, and henceforward shall be free.

How do we align that with the Declaration of Independence? "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."? I read that phrase as VERY INCLUSIVE. All humanity, every last one. Not only some humans, but ALL.

Things change, remember Apartied in South Africa? I remember hearing about that in High School and freaking out that a government would treat some citizens one way and others another!

I was naive at the time in thinking that our Constitution covered ALL citizens in this country. I should have realized that just the existence of the 19th Amendment meant that it did NOT!

I hope we have lasting and meaningful change in this country so that   ALL American Citizens are treated equally.  

Dobar dan!
Posted -- April 2020
Image -- August 2019
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