Beaufort County leaders have moral, faith-based duty to protect public today | Opinion

America is getting ready to celebrate its Independence Day on July 4. Clearly this holiday will be unlike any other Fourth of July in recent history.

Yet, the Declaration of Independence and our American Revolution to break away from Britain give us a lot not only to thankful for as Americans, but quite a bit to think about and reflect on these days about the meaning of freedom as well as the responsibilities that come with being a free nation.

I recently saw a car from New Hampshire with the state’s motto “Live Free or Die.” Frankly I took a step back for a second and felt a chill down my back just gazing at that plate.

The plate summarized what appears to me as a symbol of a national debate regarding individual freedoms and communal responsibility to protect the safety of the American people.

Has this pandemic come down to a matter of two choices? Do Americans have to decide between living free and dying from the COVID-19 virus?

In addition, the elected leaders of Hilton Head Island, Beaufort and Bluffton are deliberating emergency resolutions to require masks to be worn for COVID-19 protection.

Maybe the Hilton Head and Beaufort council members thought about the phrase — “Live Free or Die” — before voting Monday morning to require masks to be worn in many circumstances.

Regardless, all these votes inevitably make a statement regarding where freedom begins and where responsibility to protect the public good comes into play.

The votes throughout the county offer local leaders a chance for the first time to actually stand up for a moral principle, and a religious one too.

Governments have a moral duty to protect its citizens. It could be anything from external threats, like terrorism, or internal threats to the security of our nation.

Governments have a moral duty to provide police protection and services to protect children and seniors from abuse. Governments provide many programs to protect the well-being of our citizens.

Does a pandemic that has infected millions in our nation and killed over 120,000 Americans to date qualify as a good enough reason for government to take action to protect its citizens?

Do our town councils, state legislatures and heads of state have a moral duty to issue public safety orders to protect us from a rampant virus that could obliterate hundreds of thousands of Americans?

There is also a religious imperative, which is that if America is a faith-based nation then it surely should stand up for the sanctity of life, regardless of age or any other classification in our diverse society.

The idea of live free or die is really a false choice when it comes to facing a public health emergency.

That phrase was adopted from a toast by General John Start, a Revolutionary War hero from New Hampshire, on July 31, 1809, in commemoration of the Battle of Bennington. The origins of the phrase may come from the French Revolution.

Other quotes, like Patrick Henry’s, “Give me Liberty or give me death,” all reflect the great patriotism of that era in American culture to defeat the British.

Here we are 244 years later and we ask if those phrases and the spirit they represented apply to the COVID-19 pandemic now?

Isn’t this the time when Americans are supposed to pull together to help each other?

All we are being asked to do right now is to socially distance ourselves and wear a mask, yet one would think we were being asked to sacrifice our life and individuality.

We seem to be so absorbed in defining this issue in terms of a violation of our freedoms, rather than viewing it as an affirmation of our national spirit to protect our neighbors and our communities.

Is it really too much for the Town Council to lead and think of the health of its residents? Is it too much for the Hilton Head Island-Bluffton Chamber of Commerce to revise its “Path Forward” program (I served on the clergy committee and refused to endorse the program) to ask Hilton Head restaurant employees to wear a mask while serving customers?

If the answer is yes, have we defeated ourselves in the spirit of ‘76?

Have we failed the moral test of being a nation where every citizen matters and has value? Have we failed the religious test that God wants us to care about each other and preserve life above all other mandates of a civilized society?

So when elected officials say to me “people have to take personal responsibility for their actions and not depend on government,” I fervently disagree.

It’s a sacred partnership in a democracy between the people and their government. We all work together and are responsible for each other. Why is that principle so hard to embrace?

From the Jewish tradition there is a maxim that says, “If I am not for myself then who shall be for me? If I am only for myself then what am I? If not now then when?”

Each American, and resident of Beaufort County, including businesses, are being asked this question now.

How we respond will determine whether we really treasure this nation and what our forbears fought and died for to protect America for future generations.

Rabbi Brad Bloom of Hilton Head Island writes on matters of faith.

This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 9:13 AM.