Moderation the key to successful society

Of course, one could say right up front that, despite the fact we are a relatively young nation, we are the world's oldest continuous democracy.

That in itself is quite an accomplishment.

But another tremendously important aspect of the "American Experiment" is the so-called "melting pot" that has been one of our greatest strengths.

Admittedly, there have been clear problems with the unusual degree of national, ethnic and racial diversity that has gone into making what we call Americans. This diversity has resulted in conflicts of which we are all aware, but it also has led to a great tapestry of ideas, customs, beliefs and ingenuity that has made us, on the whole, a strong nation.

It is our view that one result of this diversity is the need for moderation in dealing with others -- in politics, religion and social relationships.

This was never better expressed than in these comments in 1942 by one of America's foremost jurists, Learned Hand:

"You may ask what then will become of the fundamental principles of equity and fair play which our constitutions enshrine; and whether I seriously believe that unsupported they will serve merely as counsels of moderation. I do not think that anyone can say what will be left of those principles; I do not know whether they will serve only as counsels; but this much I think I do know -- that a society so riven that the spirit of moderation is gone, no court can save; that a society where that spirit flourishes, no court need save; than in a society which evades its responsibility by thrusting upon the courts the nurture of that spirit, that spirit in the end will perish."

Our nation has flirted at times in its history to destroy that spirit of moderation and, when it has, it has paid the price. The most obvious example was the ugly McCarthy period. We hope that never again happens.

In our dealings with other nations and societies, we see the tragedy that results from individuals and groups who don't understand the spirit of moderation and compromise. Nowhere is this more evident than in the Middle East, a region torn asunder by the viciousness of partisan and religious strife. Democracy, of course, cannot flourish in such an atmosphere.

Again, quoting from Learned Hand:

"That community is already in the process of dissolution where each man begins to eye his neighbor as a possible enemy, where nonconformity with the accepted creed, political as well as religious, is a mark of disaffection; where denunciation, without specification or backing, takes the place of evidence; where orthodoxy chokes freedom of dissent; where faith in the eventual supremacy of reason has become so timid that we dare not enter our convictions in the open lists, to win or lose."

--REK