We sleep under the light of stars that have long since ceased to exist, and we pattern our behavior by ideas which have no reality as soon as we cease to credit them.
Equality is a reality only so long as we practice our belief in it through our interactions with each other. And if such exchanges are to be more than fleeting moments, if they are to be reliable realities, then they must take place within institutions that make lofty ideals into everyday expectations.
An idea is a solid fact, a theory is a solid fact, a superstition is a solid fact as long as people continue to regulate their actions in terms of the idea, theory, or superstition; and it is none the less solid because it is conveyed as an image or a breath of sound.
But the worlds we imagine and the songs we sing are fragile things. They need our attention, they need our care and cultivation. The equality of freedom that makes individuality a moral status rather than selfishness is less solid today than it was yesterday. The flames turn the sketch of a better word to ash. The howls of rage drown out the hymns that allow us to share hope.
Dr Joe Hoover 