DDJ 66. 以其不争, 第一修订

第六十六章
[原文]

江海之所以能为百谷王①者，以其善下之，故能为百谷王。是以圣人②欲上民，必以言下之；欲先民，必以身后之。是以圣人处上而民不重③，处前而民不害。是以天下乐推而不厌。以其不争，故天下莫能与之争。

[译文]

江海所以能够成为百川河流所汇往的地方，乃是由于它善于处在低下的地方，所以能够成为百川之王。因此，圣人要领导人民，必须用言辞对人民表示谦下，要想领导人民，必须把自己的利益放在他们的后面。所以，有道的圣人虽然地位居于人民之上，而人民并不感到负担沉重；居于人民之前，而人民并不感到受害。天下的人民都乐意推戴而不感到厌倦。因为他不与人民相争，所以天下没有人能和他相争。

http://www.daodejing.org/66.html

"天下乐推而不厌:  以其不争，故天下莫能与之争".   Tao Te Ching turned into a beacon for political enlightenment， religious enlightenment and scientific enlightenment in ancient China.  These ideas, preserved through Taoist religion and living philosophy, gave the Chinese civilization an unique sustainabity and renewability,  leading up to cultural Renaissance during Tang dynasty 1000 years later.   Taoism was the engine behind the Chinese progress, the armor that preserved it through turmoil, the root and stem that supplied it below the surface and above. 

Laozi left an unique gift to the world.    The same could be said of the Framers of the US Constitution.  Perhaps it is true: anyone has the potential to bring a gift and to leave a gift.   Without either, the world would be a poorer and darker place.   

AMENDMENT I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/amendments/1/essays/138/establishment-of-religion

http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/amendments/1/essays/139/free-exercise-of-religion

http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/amendments/1/essays/140/freedom-of-speech-and-of-the-press

http://www.heritage.org/constitution/#!/amendments/1/essays/141/freedom-of-assembly-and-petition

Religion showed up rarely in the Constitution, but it was always in the back chamber of the Framers' mind.   Descendants of Puritans, Quakers and Anglicans, quite a few Deists and closet Agnostics,  many keen observers of Roman history, more recently European Religious Reformation Wars that their ancestors escaped; now together they set about to limit the religions in politics and to set religions free of political interference in the very first sentence of the First Amendment.  道常无为而无不为； 以其不争，故天下莫能与之争。

http://www.adherents.com/gov/Founding_Fathers_Religion.html

Christianity in America, from Puritans to Abolitionists:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritans

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quakers

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/11/fact-checking-lincoln-lincolns-mostly-realistic-his-advisers-arent/265073/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deism

Slavery-Abolitionists battle and Religion were always the two persistent elephants in the room of American History.  The same could be said of the Taoist history, from its birth around 500 BC until Song Dynasty.   When Taoism lost China, Slavery won and Freedom lost.   

The Dark Side could be strong.  Progress is not given.  The Chinese Americans have enough perspective to know that never to take Freedom for granted.  Within two decades of the Civil War,  the American Congress enacted laws to bar and deport Chinese immigrants through Chinese Exclusion Act.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Exclusion_Act

Reality and even in fantasy, the Dark Side wins decisively.  Jedi Extinction Act and Jedi Academy Massacre, 星座帝国元年，19-BBY。  
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_galactic_history

So all we got is enlightened perseverance. 😣😣😣   江海之所以能为百谷王者，以其善下之，故能为百谷王.