Editor’s note: John Freitag of Strafford was the Facilities Manager at the Newton Elementary School for 33 years where for many of those years also drove school bus, supervised summer youth employment programs and those needing to participate in the Diversion program.
As one who has worked with young people for over 30 years, the hardest lesson to teach and learn is to take responsibility for our actions. The natural tendency is to say, “They’re doing it too” or “Look what so and so did” in an effort to deflect any blame. Unfortunately, the ability to accept responsibility rather than simply blame others is a lesson that we have to continue to relearn as adults, as evidenced by many of my more right-leaning friends seeking to deflect blame regarding the tragic events in Washington, D.C.
While not cutting any slack to those who would try to find excuses for the rioters or for those who egged them on, this is a unique moment for all of us to recognize the need for the rule of law if our system of government is to work. Too often in recent years many have put their own causes and beliefs ahead of their willingness to obey the law. Whether we like to admit it or not, this may have contributed to providing the sense that it is all right, when we feel we are right, to ignore the law. Here are some examples:
In 2015, hundreds of angry protesters entered the capitol in Montpelier and interrupted the inauguration of Gov. Peter Shumlin for hours because they were upset with his decision to pull the plug on single payer health care in Vermont. Twenty-nine people were arrested.
In 2017, the Vermont Legislature proclaimed Oct. 17 as “John Brown Day,” honoring the fanatic who felt the need to take the law into his own hands and, among other actions, led a group who hacked to death at their homes of pro slavery settlers in Kansas and an armed assault on a federal facility at Harpers Ferry, Virginia.
In 2019 and 2020, climate activists multiple times disrupted proceedings in the capitol in Montpelier including the 2020 State of the State address by Gov. Phil Scott.
This spring/summer there were not only numerous legal demonstrations in favor of racial justice (full disclosure: I participated in a few myself) but also instances around the state of the blocking of streets by activists.
Finally, there is the ongoing support or turning a blind eye to those who employ undocumented workers on their farms and in their businesses in flagrant disregard for our immigration laws.
The examples above are in no way an excuse for the outrage that happened in Washington, D.C., and those involved should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. We need, as I used to explain when discipling young people, to be responsible for our own actions. At the same time, if there was a problem serious enough to warrant pulling the school bus to the side of the road, I would also use the occasion to remind everyone about the need to adhere to the rules of the bus if we were to be able to have a safe journey.
The bottom line is that for our system of government to work, we must be willing to respect and have laws enforced across the line, even when we do not agree with them. Those who feel compelled to use civil disobedience, as did the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., should recognize, as he and his mentor Gandhi did, that to be effective and have moral authority requires self-sacrifice, not simply imposing your will on others. Finally, if we are to be honest with ourselves, healing our nation will require more than outrage at the despicable acts in the nation’s capital, but some real soul-searching and rededication to this nation by changing what we don’t like by using the tools our democracy provides and adherence to the rule of law by us all.
