‘Irresponsible’ legislators move to Dark Ages
This is a clarion call.
An essay of alarm.
Watching the daily unspeakable tragic scenes of the incredibly courageous Ukrainian people dying for their freedom we witness the daily destruction of our own freedoms.
The role model for the greatest democracy in history is a role we must not take for granted.
Unbelievably, the fabric of our freedom and democracy is being torn apart by irresponsible, thoughtless, hard-hearted lawmakers who don’t realize (or don’t care) that our assumption that freedom can only be guaranteed unless it is cherished, protected and strengthened.
State by state, including our own Ohio, lawmakers are pushing legislation that not only chips away at our fundamental foundation but chops away.
What will be left after, if they succeed—a population more polarized? Mindless and dangerous mistrust between parents and teachers?
Undermining the historic and vital support of public education? Fear of children reading, learning, understanding of our American story?
Banning books? Back to censorship? Encouraging and rewarding citizens to abandon public schools? Controlling curriculum, threatening teachers for talking about “controversial” topics? Disrespecting the competence and education of our educators?
Threatening doctors with punishment and prison for performing medical procedures on women who have fought for and finally achieved the right to make their own decisions about their own bodies? Pushing our children with their own sexual developments back into the dark closet, back to being victims of bullying and exclusion?
Answering the national concern about violent crimes with more freedom for gun usage instead of more regulation and gun control? Limiting freedom to protest and exercise free speech even though regulations for those events are already regulated?
Encouraging the paranoid, faultless claims that to insure our democracy, voting must be stifled and ridiculous obstacles to voting be established after decades of finally winning voting rights?
The list of frightening possible legislation pulling our country back into the Dark Ages is long and dangerous.
Our democracy cannot survive and thrive with such truly incomprehensible attempts to undermine the very beliefs and promises.
A population so divided, so many people ready to believe conspiracy theories, to believe the schism between parents, teachers, doctors is being encouraged to believe our election results, confirmed around the country, are false, to see Jan. 6 as an innocent protest demonstration (were they not watching in shock the images before them?).
I speak to all of our citizens and hope and pray you raise your voices, your pens, texts, calls, advocacy— whatever communication is most familiar and comfortable to urge our legislators to vote no on all the proposed efforts to truly destroy our precious democracy.
Mimi Brodsky Chenfeld is a teacher, author and consultant. Her latest book is “Still Teaching In the Key of Life.”