Editorial: Seek out truth in divided times

Our July Fourth holiday, Independence Day, is a time to celebrate the fledgling birth of this nation. At its core is a grateful belief that the USA is a haven for democracy and free thought, for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

This year, it’s debatable that we’re happy. The nation’s politics are fractured, as congressional hearings take place to consider the former U.S. president’s involvement in a violent dispute over election processes, fueled by false claims of vote tampering that call the very basis of political power and the strength of our democracy into question. The trust, and hope, necessary to create satisfaction with our government are battered.

The Jan. 6 hearings, however, represent the difficult, ongoing effort to regain and retain voters’ trust. Over the course of these hearings, representatives with widely divergent political views have found common ground in respect for the rule of law and the electoral process, seeking truth and clarity over the events of that day.

Hope springs from that.

Hope, as Hawaii-born, former President Barack Obama recognized, is a fuel that fires political involvement and action. It is at least as powerful as other fuels, such as anger, ambition and greed.

Hope can also be manipulated. But an insistence on truth and transparency in government bolsters democracy, supporting hope for the future and faith in the process.

In the months following our last presidential election, a significant number of U.S. citizens came to believe that election was “rigged,” rather than uplifting of a candidate chosen by a majority of voters to office. Others came to fear the consequences of this false belief, and the way it can be manipulated to undercut trust in office-holders, as it was on Jan. 6.

Now, spurred by the example of Jan. 6 committee members who staked their elected positions and reputations on telling and showing Americans the truth, the hope is that a majority of this nation’s citizens will be motivated by the actual facts, and moved to take full advantage of our essential power: to vote.

This is no time to tune out the process. As the ramifications of U.S. Supreme Court decisions on abortion, gun control, the environment, and separation of church and state reverberate throughout the nation, it could hardly be more clear that our votes and our election choices have profound impact.

To preserve a free society, it’s of utmost importance that all eligible citizens not squander this right to vote, and that voters make choices that reflect their values, rather than stand aside.

The hope is that citizens will educate themselves, placing their trust in those who demonstrate commitment to truth-seeking and truth-telling, and then vote accordingly, in the upcoming election and those that follow.

Engagement in the ongoing work of nationhood is never truly finished. Exercising the rights of free speech and assembly, along with voting, is necessary to preserve our independence.

The original American nation was a slave-holding country; its indigenous people were too often deprived of life, liberty and property, with no regard for their happiness. But an active, moral — and honest — citizenry can and did make change. The nation’s fundamental wrong, slavery, is no more, though far more change is needed.

As long as the nation recognizes the value of truth, hope remains that a government based on free argument — a means for getting at truth — and free thought — a search for common values, based on truth — can evolve to effectively represent a diverse people.

The value of Independence Day is rooted in our hope for a free, happy future. Democracy, combined with truth-telling, can lead us there.