<\/p>\n
by Joseph Farah
\nWND.com<\/p>\n
One nation, no more.<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
The U.S. motto, \u201ce pluribus unum,\u201d no longer applies.<\/p>\n
We don\u2019t live up to the phrase \u201cout of many, one.\u201d We don\u2019t even try.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s pass\u00e9. The opposite is where we\u2019re heading \u2013 \u201cout of one, many.\u201d We have lost our commonality. We have shattered the bonds that once held us together \u2013 namely the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the values that inspired them.<\/p>\n
Everyone is beginning to notice it. The evidence is in the explosive, vitriolic political rhetoric of the day.<\/p>\n
According to a new CBS News poll, three-quarters of Americans feel the current tone of politics and debate is encouraging violence among some people. Violence, not dissent. Violence, not just passion. Violence, not constructive change.<\/p>\n
Ironically, the constituents of the party and ideology most responsible for the escalation of fiery hate speech are the very people whose views are reflected by these poll results. That would be the Democratic Party and its most fervent left-wing followers.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no longer just a matter of disagreement between the leadership of this party and the one that controls the White House and Congress. It\u2019s war. It\u2019s incitement. It\u2019s organized hatred \u2013 the kind one would expect to find in a nation engaged in civil war. But, honestly, there\u2019s nothing civil about it.<\/p>\n
America has been involved in many wars throughout its 240-year history. But the deadliest of all of them, in terms of American carnage, was the one it fought with itself \u2013 the one that split the U.S. in half. A nation that experienced nearly a million self-inflected deaths in four years should know better. We\u2019ve been there. We\u2019ve done that. Do we really want to go there, again? Is it even avoidable when we no longer find common ground on the most basic values and assumptions \u2013 like marriage, sex, the rule of law, self-government, right and wrong, borders, the principle of self-defense, etc.?<\/p>\n
There is a cold war being waged within America over our basic way of life. And it threatens to explode into a hot war at any moment.<\/p>\n
Do we just continue to slouch toward that inevitability? Or is there room for dialogue and respect for differing opinions?<\/p>\n
At this point, I must say that only one side in this dispute seems to want to criminalize dissent and disagreement. It is the Democratic Party and the leftist ideology. They want to shut down debate with force and even violence. Oddly, they do this in the place where we once practiced \u201cacademic freedom\u201d \u2013 the institutions of \u201chigher learning\u201d that claim to fight for \u201cdiversity\u201d and \u201ctolerance.\u201d<\/p>\n
If this be \u201ctolerance\u201d and \u201cdiversity,\u201d the words have been bastardized beyond recognition.<\/p>\n
So how do we begin to heal this rift?<\/p>\n
You might be surprised by my answer. I actually think real \u201cdiversity\u201d is the key. One side only considers race, sex, sexual activity, national origin, ethnicity, religion, etc. But notice how the left doesn\u2019t tolerate one kind of diversity, the most important kind \u2013 the philosophical and ideological kind.<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t that interesting?<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s precisely the kind we need in the major cultural institutions to quench the hate-mongering, the incitement and the sparks of violence we are beginning to see in America today.<\/p>\n
We need to see this on campus. We need to see it in the media. We need to see it in the schools. We need to see it in the libraries. We need to see it in the major foundations.<\/p>\n
I believe the most important starting point for this kind of diversity is in the press. This war is mainly waged on the propaganda front. That\u2019s what so-called \u201cmainstream journalism\u201d has become \u2013 a weapon in the cold propaganda war that has the potential to explode into a shooting war.<\/p>\n
Is that what CNN wants? Is that what the New York Times wants? Is that what ABC, CBS and NBC want?<\/p>\n
If not, why are they acting like they do? Why do they act like there is only one valid worldview? Why do they push the agenda of the hard left without excuse, without self-consciousness and seemingly without thought?<\/p>\n