Jefferson Did Not Survive, but America Did
Imam ‘Ali was asked in the middle of the first civil war by one of his soldiers, ‘Why is it that under the Prophet there were no civil wars, the believers obeyed the Prophet. But now, it is believer against believer, and we are constantly at war?’ ‘Ali replied, ‘It is because during the time of the Prophet he had followers like me, and now I have followers like you!’
Indeed, it is not our leaders who really make or break us, rather it is ourselves and how we interact with each other. Do we hold the same values? Do we believe in the same ideals, the same unwritten laws?
This has been the case throughout history. On July 4, 1826, when John Adams was on his deathbed, his last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives!” He did not know that his good friend had died five hours earlier. But the profound meaning behind this statement is not that both great men and founders of this nation died on the same day, nor that one, Adams, believed that as long as the other was alive, the nation would be ok. The lesson is that even though Jefferson was already dead, the nation was ok. Jefferson did not survive, but America did.
I was very much, as many of us were (no matter what side you were on), holding my breath and my worry beads during this election season. I was full of fear and trepidation. Fear of Biden losing. Fear that the President and his supporters would not accept the result of the elections. Fear of violence from both sides. Fear of the ‘uncertainty’ of the most certain thing in this world: the US holds elections, the winner moves in and the loser moves out. There would be no tanks rolling, no marshal law declared. There should be no fear that with the death of ‘Jefferson’ the US will perish as well! No fear of a military coup. No fear that the ‘red’ states will reverse the will of the people. No fear that the Supreme Court will deny the loss of one party and lose its legitimacy and integrity…
But nothing of that sort happened. In fact, as there were protests in 2016 and 2017 (some of which my family participated in), there were protests in 2020 (some of which my extended family participated in). This is another wonderful ‘certainty’ that the US has: the certainty to express oneself in a peaceful manner.
This time, many, like me, had the feeling that things would be different, that like the leaders who lost, the followers would resort to any means necessary. That they would be overwhelmingly violent in their protests (and some were), or worse, draw us into a civil conflict.
None of this has happened, and I believe it is because the majority of Americans believe that those who lost are as American as those who won. We know that America survives its leaders.
Even if our leaders don’t.
