Inter arma enim silent leges — in times of war the law falls silent, so goes the Latin adage coined by Marcus Tullius Cicero when partisan mob violence was the “law” in the streets of ancient Rome.
While we are certainly in a crisis, this is no war. The law is still the law. Rules still matter, common decency should still exist. Respect for neighbors and strangers should guide our actions.
Much of our country is in freefall. Our economy is a slow-motion train wreck. Logic and civil discourse have receded while social media is a dumpster fire of fear and wild speculation.
Since last month, roughly 10 million Americans have been put out of work not by a disease that cannot hold elected office nor write policy, but by government leaders forcing business closures and business owners deciding to shutter their doors either for safety or to comply with new rules.
By any metric, these are desperate times.
Luckily, many of the businesses that are legally allowed to stay open have chosen to do so to feed our population, serve our needs or benefit the community.
Many have chosen to close, not due to financial costs, lack of customers, high overhead or supply chain problems; instead, they have opted to close because some residents of Sedona have threatened their businesses, threatened their employees and threatened these business owners with violence.
This is disgusting, by any metric.
And those threatening these businesses know it.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt told Americans we had nothing to fear but fear itself. Did we forget? Did we willingly throw that away? Did we decide to take it upon ourselves to threaten physical violence against our neighbors? Even in a national disaster, we want to squeeze in just a little more hate?
If you are out in Sedona picking up food or groceries or supplies, do not criticize anyone else doing the same.
That is hypocrisy, by any metric.
We learned as children if you cannot say something nice, do not say anything at all. Remember that if you remember nothing else.
The governor’s executive orders and the emergency orders issued by county and cities are our guidelines during this time. There are rules laid out in explicit detail within them, citing existing state statutes and local ordinances.
That being said, nowhere in the governor’s order nor the Yavapai and Coconino county emergency declarations nor the mayor of Sedona’s order did any language deputize residents to enforce the law. These rules are to be enforced by the authorities, not by neighbors.
If you see a criminal violation, report it to the police. Do not take it upon yourself to argue what the law is. Based on social media commentary around the Verde Valley, many of the fiercest finger-waggers and nuh-uh-ers haven’t bothered to even read the orders.
They instead are repeating headlines and conjecturing.
Many others only read excepts, do not understand what’s in them, are being told second-hand or third-hand what the rules are or have confused them with other states and communities.
These bullies on the playground are making ill-informed judgments or assumptions of what’s in these rules and then taking it upon themselves to tell others what the rules are. Monopoly prints the rules on the inside of the box lid to avoid such problems. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
The ethical codes and vision statements that governments and businesses have poured hours of work into don’t simply go away because of a disease. When Sedona City Council members obliterate their vow to support “a diverse and prosperous economy,” that is their prerogative. If they choose to put residents out of work because it looks good politically in the moment, they have to live in a community that has a long memory.
Business associations whose sole mission is to make Sedona the best place to live, work, play and visit should not jump on the bandwagon to shutter businesses, fire workers and close public spaces to residents out of fear of a disease nor fear of losing city funding. If they can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
We are a nation of laws based on the Constitution. We are not a nation built on shame. Stay safe, but don’t tell others how to behave and they won’t tell you. We don’t need more hate in this crisis; it helps no one. If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.
Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
