As Americans, we are extremely protective of our rights.
It’s part of our DNA as a nation. The American Revolution revolved around a foundational understanding and expectation that people within a nation are promised various rights, and it is the government’s duty to protect said rights. Those rights have adapted and adjusted with the passing of time, and some new rights have been added. One such right, based upon recent reminder, is the right to complain.
This right, the right to complain, is apparently conditional, according to popular opinion. One may complain about the government provided that one executed their civic duty by voting in the election. Given the lack of official documentation of this right, I’m not certain if you are only allowed to complain about the person for whom you did vote or if your complaints can be levied against anybody.
Whatever the case may be, it is a cherished and time-honored right that we Americans enjoy with great regularity and energy.
The honest truth, however, is that the right to complain is in fact one of our constitutional rights. The First Amendment clearly states that “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech.”
We have the right to not only develop but to share our opinions at will. This right has no conditions, thus rendering the cultural conditions levied upon us as unconstitutional. As Americans, we can complain about whatever we want, whenever we want, just about wherever we want.
As I continue to read the deluge of complaints on social media and hear them during in-person conversation, I find myself asking a question: To what end?
What value is coming of our complaining? How are we moving the needle of society in a positive direction? Do we really accomplish anything of value by releasing our frustrated and angry thoughts into the ether?
Don’t misunderstand me, I’m all for discussing the issues of the world so long as our end game is to find productive ways to deal with the issues before us. In the age of social media, we often state our complaints just because we can because it’s our right.
We do have another right, however, that we should take into account from time to time. We have the right to remain silent. There are absolutely times when we have a responsibility to speak, but we do have the right, when appropriate, to not speak.
We normally think of the right to remain silent as being reserved for criminals. It is part of the Miranda Rights that are read to those who are being arrested and derived from the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that one need not “be a witness against himself.”
As we all have experienced at some point in life, you need not be on trial for everything you say to be used against you in the court of public opinion. Even the founders of our nation understood that sometimes, silence is golden, and they protected our right to it.
The Apostle Paul speaks to this issue in I Corinthians 10:23. He writes, “‘I have the right to do anything,’ you say, but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything,’ but not everything is constructive.” To v put it another way, just because we have the right doesn’t make it right. Just because we can do something doesn’t mean we should.
We should absolutely be engaged in civil discourse, but we need to make sure it is in fact civil. For those of us who claim to follow Jesus, we should make sure the words of our mouths are consistent with the character of our Christ. Adding our complaints to the roar of the crowd will do little more than add to the noise.
Perhaps our best course of action is to claim our right to silence for a moment as we carefully consider the issues before us and attempt to discern a productive path forward. Our world doesn’t need more complaints. It needs “beneficial” and “constructive” conversation that will allow us to build one another up and bring one another together.
The Rev. Jeremy Myers is the lead pastor of First Baptist Church in Seymour. Read his blog at jeremysmyers.com. Send comments to [email protected].