We must learn to respect those whose views differ with ours and those who want to openly demonstrate against what they feel is evil and injustice. Such dissent has great value in democracy and we need understanding of the other man’s view. Our greatest danger is extremes in either direction.
Our problem is illustrated in the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer’s parable of the porcupines. On a cold wintry night a group of porcupines were confronted with the problem of how to keep far enough apart from each other to prevent sticking each other to death and close enough together to keep from freezing to death. This is a basic issue of the century: how to achieve a balance between the freedom of the individual and the order of the community. We need the courage to stand up and speak. We also need the courage to sit down and listen occasionally.
But this dissent must be reasonable and within the law. We simply must have rules and regulations. It is law or chaos. Lawbreakers must be dealt with swiftly and sternly. Preserving respect for law is every Christian’s responsibility. Therefore, in the words of Lincoln: “Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges. … Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. … Let it become the political religion of the nation. And let the old and the young, the rich and the poor … of all sexes and of all tongues, and colors and conditions, sacrifice unceasingly upon its altars.”
We need to return to the dictum of Theodore Roosevelt, “No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we require him to obey it.”