This democratic ideal would be more fully realized when the
Constitution and the Bill of Rights set up a system of checks and balances so
that no one individual or branch of government could become too powerful. They
formally reversed the power pyramid, making it clear that elected officials
were to be public servants.
The Heart of the Creed: Empathy, Human Rights, and Democracy :
In order to value human rights, it first is necessary to
have empathy, to see other people as human.
This may appear obvious to us now, but it was only in the 18th
century in Europe that people began to be seen as being autonomous, equal human
beings. Prior to that time, many
kinds of people, such as servants, slaves, children, women and people without
property were not regarded as autonomous individuals who employed independent
moral judgment.
Empathy is key in recognizing human rights and creating
democracy. From a psychospiritual
perspective, recognizing another person's humanity, and therefore their human
rights, is a sign of emotional and spiritual maturity. Society has many ways of
ranking people, but the moral value implicit in the Creed, i.e., the
self-evident assertion that all people are created equal, tells us that our
innate worthiness transcends any social ranking .
The stirring words of Thomas Merton express the heart of the
American Creed:
"If we ever knew who we truly are, there would be
no more wars, no more hunger, no more hatred. We would simply bow down and worship one another."
The Sacred Duty of Democratic Government:
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