A vow of unity (3/3)
April 17, 2024
This the last post in a series (links to first and second parts) looking at an article Gandhi wrote in April 1919, The Vow of Hindu-Muslim Unity. It built on the spirit of unity after the first national day of fasting, or as he described it, “this auspicious occasion… when a wave of satyagraha is sweeping over the whole country.”
The two major political parties in America often engage in similar provocative behavior as the two major religions in India did. Gandhi’s article concluded with a proposed vow of unity that individuals and assemblies could make, which leads to the obvious question; what would a vow of political unity look like? First, here’s what Gandhi wrote:
With God as witness we Hindus and [Muslims] declare that
we shall behave towards one another as children of the same parents,
that we shall have no differences, that the sorrows of each shall be the
sorrows of the other and that each shall help the other in removing
them. We shall respect each other’s religion and religious feelings and
shall not-stand in the way of our respective religious practices. We
shall always refrain from violence to each other in the name of
religion.
In America, our political parties are children of the same parent; the Constitution. So I took a shot at tweaking Gandhi’s vow of unity for American politics:
“We Republicans and Democrats declare that we shall behave towards one another as fellow Americans and devotees of the Constitution, that the sorrows of one shall be the sorrows of all, and that we shall help the other in minimizing or removing them. We shall respect each other’s party preference and shall not stand in the way of governing. We shall always refrain from violence to each other in the name of politics.”
It’s a start, anyway, and it’s what I believe the American Union can accomplish, using the five duties in the Preamble to the Constitution as a guide. And, like the fast Gandhi used to create the feeling of unity, the fast for peace each month on the 15th is an opportunity for all people and parties to come together and create a shared intention… liberty and justice for all.
Who do you think benefits from the dis-unity in politics?