|
||||
|
December 20, 2001 Straight Talk Greetings, Gentle Reader, As I sit here, the phenomenal voice of Luciano Pavarotti is filling my ears and heart with some of the most beautiful Christmas music ever written. I know that my enjoyment of his voice is a matter of personal taste, and that some of you probably don’t like his music, as I do, and that’s OK. This is America and each of us has the right to listen to the music we like. My taste in music may be different from yours, but because we live in this free country, I don’t try to make you like my music. I don’t try to force you to read my books, nor do I attempt to burn your books. Why? Because in America, we just don’t do that sort of thing. My religious beliefs are not necessarily the same as yours, and that’s OK, too. In this country, we enjoy a greater degree of freedom, religious and otherwise, than the people of any other country in the world. I have the right to practice my beliefs, so long as they don’t deprive you of the right to practice your beliefs. It’s a case of, "Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins." And we Americans like it that way. While there are few virtues in war, I would argue that the one good thing that has come of this war is our heightened awareness of the differences between America and the rest of the world. Since we have become a geographically illiterate people, few of us have known of the destitution suffered daily by the Afghans. Even if the Taliban all leave, Af-ghans will not be a free people by our standards. They will continue to be controlled to a degree that we would find unbearable. The right of those in power to swing their fists will not end where their victims’ noses begin; might will continue to reign over right in Afghanistan., Since I love American history, and since the history of this wonderful country is also the history of about 3 1/2 centuries’ worth of my ancestors, I enjoy reading of their devotion to freedom, especially the freedom to worship. If I lived in Afghanistan or one of several other Islamic countries, I would be Muslim, whatever my preference, as would you. Either that, or we would both be dead. We would have only those two choices. That’s why my ancestors came to this country. They were people who knew whereof they spoke, when they talked of tyranny. They knew tyranny up close and personal. That is not true of modern Americans. We have permitted our freedoms to be eroded, because we don’t have an understanding of the captivity our ancestors escaped. We’ve always been free, so we value comfort, convenience and security far more than freedom. This is America, and whether I choose to listen to Pavarotti, read a favorite book or practice my religion, I deprive no other American of their Constitutional rights. And that’s how my forefathers expect me to be; they have the right to expect that, since their blood fertilized this sacred land, as Patrick Henry described it. May we Americans have a rebirth of reverence for freedom this Christmas, because of what we are learning of Afghanistan and other Eastern countries. May we Christians have a rebirth of gratitude for ancestors who taught us of a God of love. Most of all, may we remember that God is the author and defender of our freedom. Merry Christmas to all!
|
||||
|
Copyright © 2001 the Cortez
Journal. All rights reserved. |
