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Editor, Townsman:

Our democracy is founded on many ideals such as popular sovereignty or the will of the people, applying scientific reasoning to politics, religious tolerance, freedom of speech, equality, freedom of press, and defending human rights against tyranny.

For democracy to function, its citizens must be entrusted to use reason, critical thinking, the capacity to discern fact from fiction, and accept the authority of truth especially as it concerns the function of government and the understanding of law and history. These democratic values form a right to rule established as a contract with the people which is threatened when rulers become oppressive.

We bore witness to egregious attacks on our democracy during the 2020 election that threatened to usher in an era of outright authoritarian rule. The incumbent president pressured state officials to alter election results, propagated lies and alternate realities claiming he was the rightful winner, schemed to have the vice president declare the election void, allowed his former national security advisor to propose implementing martial law to overturn the election while federal lawmakers sued state governments to invalidate a free and fair election. All these actions were designed to give unlimited power and authority to a single person and one political party, to remove legal restraints, and to solidify his demand for loyalty and subservience.

Our democracy is in dire peril because reason and truth have been abandoned by many citizens and lawmakers alike. Unless truth is returned to its rightful jurisdiction, we hover on the brink of tyranny.

William Kolbe

Andover

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Letter: Democracy in peril | Letters To The Editor | andovertownsman.com - Andover Townsman