Dr. Victor Frankl, author of "Man's Search for Meaning" and Holocaust survivor conveyed, "Freedom threatens to degenerate into mere arbitrariness [oppression], unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I have been teaching my American audiences that they should see to it that The Statue of Liberty on the Atlantic Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the Pacific Coast.
Very few Utahns are aware of a national project and timely message conceived in Vienna, Austria and being born in this state. Currently, Utah is home to the Statue of Responsibility Foundation (sorfoundation.com), a foundation seeking to build the monument and revisit the message of responsibility. Ultimately the message must surpass the monument in grandeur.
Today, members of our Utah House of Representatives will hear, many for the first time, a concurrent resolution (House Concurrent Resolution 16, sponsored by Rep. Michael T. Morley, R-Spanish Fork) regarding the Statue of Responsibility. Utah's place in this project is unprecedented.
The time has come for the America's citizenry to revisit individual, family, and community responsibleness. There is a ground swell occurring on America's soil. Supporting the building of the Statue of Responsibility with our time, talents, and resources allows each of us to make a genuine contribution to a symbol permanently fixed on helping us understand true freedom.
Frankl expressed: "Man must decide, for better or for worse, what will be the monument of his existence. ... man is ultimately self-determining. Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment ... [and] every human being has the freedom to change at an instant."
Our social ills and their untold social costs implore us to go from instant gratification to instant change of heart. We need to overcome our embarrassing apprehension about spirituality and acknowledge the mental and physical decay as sad consequences of our moral lapses. Another point Frankl alludes to is that irresponsibility hastens oppression. Therefore, we cannot package responsibility dialogue in political correctness.
This will require that we tell things that are hard to tell and be willing to hear things that we don't want to hear. In some instances the words of the ancient prophet will be fulfilled: "The guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center."
For instance, our lack of self-control invites governmental control. Benjamin Franklin observed the antidote to be virtue. "Only virtuous people" he said, "are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." And I think most of us are aware of the warning that we cannot serve two masters and expect the favors of heaven.
Maybe we ought to follow Elder Dallin H. Oaks' suggestion, "We have tried throwing money and regulations at problems. We should now try throwing preachments at some problems. ... it is time our leaders and our teachers turned down the volume on what we deserve and instead tuned us in to how we can serve."
Let us build a tangible monument on the west coast to remind us of brotherhood and honesty, of sisterhood and charity. Great projects, reformations, causes of truth and nobleness, influence rising generations. They will thank us in years to come.
Jenkins lives in Layton.
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