Respect the rule of law
As a vital part of human interaction, respect seems to be lacking in today’s society. It has been eroding for some time, but the horrific events at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner a few nights ago brought to light the blatant disregard for the rule of law and the right to differing opinions.
A 2021 article by the late Monrovia, California fire chief Sam DiGiovanna in Coachella Valley Weekly stated he believed that excessive individuality and independence beget disrespect for authority figures, especially towards law enforcement. DiGiovanna recounted that he resented his father’s authority over him and felt helpless in not being able to ignore or overcome that. He grew up not wanting to be told what to do. However, as he progressed through his career, he came to realize the pressures and stresses put on people in leadership roles. Being a leader required the strength to make decisions affecting the people that leader represented. It is easy to second-guess a decision made by a leader, but few people have the courage to step up and lead. Chief DiGiovanna discovered it is OK to challenge a decision, but only once he was put in that decision-making position did he finally understand why his father and other authority figures had to be insistent in enforcing their rules, either in a family, professional, or governmental environment.
A 2023 World Justice Project report found the strength of the rule of law is declining globally, with the United States sitting at 26th from the top out of 142 countries. Many Americans now view our Supreme Court’s decisions as political rather than legal, damaging the perceived impartiality of the judiciary. The rule of law is the core foundation of our democracy. When we diminish the respect for the rule of law, we see increased criminal activity and thus less peace.
Nirmal Singh Cheema, a political specialist at the American Embassy from 1988 to 2007 wrote in 2024, “The rule of law creates confidence and organization, which fosters growth, greater peace, more education, and improved health outcomes.”
American cities and states with lax law enforcement are seeing unwelcome results in the form of increased criminal fraud, rampant drug abuse, and violence against women and children. Constant negativity toward the authority figures in the present administration has imbued many young people with hatred toward the rule of law and those who enforce it.
Take the case of Cole Allen. A teacher of young children (who renounced his Christian faith) blatantly declared he no longer would follow the law by publishing a manifesto in which he said he will kill all the members of the Trump administration with whom he disagrees. He was lashing out against people he has been made to believe were making bad decisions for him and the country. His manifesto reflects all the leftist lies about President Donald Trump and his administration which obviously conditioned this seemingly mentally deranged person to take the law into his own hands.
The danger of his thinking is self-evident. He has no respect for anything with which he doesn’t completely agree. He seems to have lost his ability to reason. In his manifesto he mocks the ease with which he was able to travel with weapons and no one tried to stop him. He delighted in fooling the Secret Service by checking into the hotel and being able to bring weapons into his room without detection. He resents the power the administration officials have and yet he wants to lethally steal that power away. The irony of his actions is that now we are aware of how much more we need to do to secure our trains, hotels, and events against deranged individuals, without losing our freedoms.
The question remains, are we as Americans willing to allow the disregard for the rule of law? Are we so forgiving of the lack of respect for ourselves, our families, our God, our government and the values we once held so dear that we won’t condemn criminals who defy our laws?
I have read about some young women idolizing Luigi Mangioni who killed the United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood. Are they willing to overlook the actions of this alleged murderer?
Having a sound moral compass is valuable and necessary to continue to have a strong and prosperous country. We need to teach our children to speak to each other with respect, to listen, and reach compromises that uphold respect for each other and the rules that govern us.
We Americans need to pull together against forces that are trying to pull us apart. Our Constitution is 238 years old. We have been a successful republic for all those years. That is because we were designed as a nation based on respect for the rule of law. We need to maintain that respect.
Carol Dubas is the author of Tripod: How Two Teenage Boys Inspire An Entire Community. She lives in Lower Southampton Township.
