Mandate Freedom?

I saw a sign on a rear window of an SUV in the grocery store parking lot.  The message was written using red tape.  It read:  “Mandate Freedom.”

Mandate freedom?  My head swirls.  This is the most oxymoronic phrase I have seen in a long time.  It is right up there with “Christian conservative,” “empathetic Republican,” “benevolent billionaire,” “jumbo shrimp,” and “hot water heater.” 

A mandate is an authoritative command.  A mandate is a rule or policy or procedure that is required regardless of circumstance.  Freedom is the antithesis of a mandate.  Freedom is life without mandates.  To promote a governmental command to instill freedom would be laughable if not so scary.

After some brief googling I learn that there are T-shirts available with this phrase from a variety of sellers.  Good thing my first encounter with this nonsense was with an inanimate rear window rather than an apparent human.  My guffaw would likely have been offensive and I might be pressed to teach a mini-lesson on freedom and mandates.

And yet, it appears, this is where we are in these United States.  We are regressing along the curve of human evolution in so many ways and with such speed that I fear Darwin would feel obligated to re-write the Origin of the Species.  To wit:

Belief in the paranormal, the supernatural, and imaginary beings remains rampant in a society that has advanced due to science. 

There is a total loss of respect and appreciation for knowledge and expertise.  There are those among us who choose to believe theories espoused by those with opinions rather than education while those who are skilled, trained, and knowledgeable in the field are either ignored or vilified.

Rational thought, reasonable discourse, critical thinking, deductive reasoning, the scientific method, and problem-solving are skills not only frowned upon by many but in some cases, they are banned or characterized as evil.

Lack of integrity, lack of honesty, promotion of false assumptions and theories, and institutionalized lying are now the hallmark of political discourse for many.  Stop the steal, Trump won, Russia is our friend, North Korea is our friend, tariffs are effective, trickle-down economic theory, isolationism, America first, America is used by its allies, minorities and women have no rights, the liberal elite control everything, and confronted with facts claims of fraud abound.  I didn’t lose, the other side cheated.  This transparently false landscape is painted over and over by many elected leaders and pundits and is believed by many who do not value critical thinking.

Acceptance of cognitive dissonance.  Many feel freedom and individual rights should be paramount in a democracy while at the same time seeking to mandate a way of thinking espoused by a few.  Religious freedom is important, but only for Christians.  History is important, but only history that is purged of evidence of issues conservatives disagree with.  Being told what to do is abhorrent unless those who are told what to do are not part of the conservative camp.  They can oppose mask mandates and vaccine mandates while supporting mandates regarding a woman’s uterus.  Freedom now means freedom to think and act as I think and act but not freedom to think differently, act differently, or be different from the norms established by conservatives.  Heterosexuality is good, everything else is bad, Christianity should rule but Muslim practices should be banned, etc.  Mandating my worldview is more important than freedom while they scream for freedom to discriminate, persecute, and treat others as second-class citizens.  Such dissonance only exists in the minds of those too fearful or unable to rationally confront their beliefs.

The evidence is pretty clear.  Unless we return to a secular democracy grounded in science and rational thought, supportive of individual rights, and wherein truth and integrity have a deep meaning we will continue to regress.  All men (sic) are created equal and all men (sic) have inalienable rights.  If we cannot agree on that we have abandoned our core values.  At that point, I worry that the United States will no longer be united and our grand democratic experiment will have failed.