I Fear What Tomorrow Might Bring
Dear Brothers and Sisters:
I fear what tomorrow might bring. Not from a sense of general uncertainty for how the economy is tanking, a feeling of unease concerning the possibility of terrorism within our soil, or that every word I write to right a wrong recruits yet another who might wish me harm for awakening him from a lie.
I fear what tomorrow might bring because on Saturday, August 28th, Glenn Beck, a man swept in the throes of denial, deranged by his own self-importance, and drunk on his megalomania, will summon his minions to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to usurp the memory of one of America’s greater sons.
The fact that he seeks to use this solemn day to catapult his relentless pursuit of revisionism is worthy enough of concern. The fact that he has bottomless pockets of support and an enormous virtual megaphone at his disposal is worthy enough of concern. The fact that his followers have willingly suspended disbelief, and continue to grow unabated, is worthy enough of concern.
But, pressing as these things might be, they are not the things that are keeping me up at night, brothers and sisters. What’s keeping me up is thinking that, in exercising your birthright to free speech, you allow yourself to be swept by the heat of the moment, and escalate an already tense moment into something far worse.
So, despite the fact that I have never met you; despite the fact that I might never know you; despite the fact that I won’t be there with you; know in your heart that the very rage incited in you by the sight and word of the impostor also lives in me. Know also that, if I were in your shoes, I would honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by refusing to allow my fury to get the best of me, choosing to exemplify his commitment to non-violence instead.
When the madman and his flock step on hallowed ground, choose not to desecrate, but to elevate. When his words coerce you into admitting your anger, choose not to prevaricate, but to educate. When his revisionist rhetoric attempts to separate us, choose not to segregate, but to integrate.
It’s what our constitution has asked. It’s what our citizenship has demanded. It’s what Dr. King would have wanted.
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