Guest editorial #1 by Jon Roland, Constitution

Society, 210/224-2868, April 23, 1995



A Time for Understanding



  The outrage and sadness we feel over the

atrocity in Oklahoma City must be followed by a

thoroughgoing investigation of its causes and

what can be done to prevent other incidents of

this kind. The natural reaction is to seek

retribution, to find ways to crack down on not

only the perpetrators but any others who might

disturb the sense of security to which we think

we have a right. But if that is all we do, we

will be neglecting the most important lessons we

can learn from this tragedy.

  Assuming for a moment that this was the act of

a few aggrieved individuals, we need to consider

the factors that lead persons to commit acts of

terrorism. When we do we find the most common

thread is not that the grievances have not been

redressed, but that they are not receiving any

attention. The aggrieved can forgive anything but

being ignored.

  We do not reward terrorism by paying attention

to the grievances that may give rise to it. Busy

people with problems of their own sometimes find

it difficult to find the time to listen to the

concerns of others, especially when they are

people of a different kind, or far away. And

public officials sometimes find it inconvenient

to pay attention to people whose numbers or

concerns seem statistically insignificant. But

they are not insignificant to those people, and

we live in a time when aggrieved people can be

very dangerous. It is a small price to pay to try

not only to give as many aggrieved people as

possible a sympathetic hearing, but also to take

action to redress those grievances that have

merit. Most of our public institutions are

intended both to offer a hearing for people's

grievances and  redress of them, but those

institutions sometimes fail, and when they do

they need to be reformed. The press can also do a

great deal more to bring attention to such

grievances, and help redirect the anger of the

aggrieved into constructive reform efforts.

  The Oklahoma City tragedy is now being used to

attack the growing numbers of Americans who are

aggrieved about government corruption and abuse,

especially those who are banding together as

militias for the protection of their communities.

They and their grievances are being dismissed.

They are belittled as people who interpret the

constitution "literally".

  The Constitution is not a collection of

parables. It is the Supreme Law of the Land. It

was meant to be taken literally. And it is time

for all of us to take it more seriously. Too much

legislation has been passed that calls for the

federal government to exercise powers it does not

have under the Constitution. It should not be a

surprise to anyone that persons sworn to uphold

the Constitution might object to that. It is time

to recognize that a federal law making it a crime

to damage a building and cause the death of its

inhabitants is not constitutional if applied to

an offense committed on the territory of a state.

Only Oklahoma has jurisdiction in this case.

Federal agents may investigate it and make

arrests. Any citizen can do that. But the

Constitution requires that it be tried in an

Oklahoma state court, not in a federal court.

  Now, in the wake of this tragedy, we see

legislation being ramrodded through Congress to

confiscate all personal weapons and to declare

militias to be terrorist organizations. Passage

of such ill-conceived legislation would lead to

far greater tragedies. Militias are not the

problem. They are the solution. All citizens are

members of the Militia. Declaring all citizens to

be terrorists would fulfill the worst fears of

the people who have become active in local

militias. What is needed is to revive the ready

militia as a major institution in our civic life,

just as it is in Switzerland, where it serves as

the backbone of civic life. Requiring everyone to

regularly participate in militia organization and

training can redirect the anger of the aggrieved

into more constructive activities, and identify

dangerous persons before they can cause any harm.

It can bring anonymous people together as

communities, and encourage them to work together

in other areas of civic life.

  We don't know all the facts yet, but we should

also consider that this atrocity may be another

Reichstag fire, staged by parties within

government for political effect. Anyone who has

investigated official corruption for a while

knows that this possibility cannot be dismissed,

and must be pursued. There are too many things

about this incident that don't ring true,

especially since warnings of just such an event,

seemingly from government sources, were made

weeks before it occurred. If anyone in government

has information about such a thing, or about any

other kind of criminal activity in government, it

is your duty to bring out what documentary

evidence you can, seek the protection of your

local militia, and take the information to the

public. But do it now. Tomorrow may be too late.