I had a friend ask me what I thought about the mosque thing in New York they are wanting to build 3 blocks from where the world trade center stood.....ground zero. Of course, my first answer is an emotional one. It is based on my values, beliefs, biases and feelings. I don't know the right answer. But it seems this is yet again another hot topic the talking heads are using to divide our nation. Even if you feel assaulted by radical Islam, which I do. Even if you feel people tiptoe around other faiths, while the purposely seek out to tear yours down. Even if, as a Christian, you feel frustrated, confused, and despair for the nation's future for a number of reasons that you can not blame on one guy in one office; I had to stop a minute and think. I let the initial emotions aside and realized...the controversy they are building up through the media only fans the flames of a country so divided. I have a dear friend. I love her and would do anything for her. We do not agree on faith or God. We probably do not share a common ground when it comes to some political issues. But I love her. Together we share the love of a nation that allows us to have liberties to raise our families with our own values, biases, opinions. We value the ability to have a safe place to raise our children without many fears that are very present in many nations around the world. We value the ability to speak our minds and not be imprisoned for it. We value the freedoms and liberties that our constitution laid out for us. America is a great nation. It is undergoing a lot of strife. But I think the greatest danger that exists is we our losing our identity as Americans, what it stands for, and what so many women and men give up to provide for us to continue this life. So as we remember this tragedy, remember the unity it brought. Remember how divisiveness was put aside for too short a time, but put aside and we were AMERICANS. If we can hold onto that notion and not forget what that means, then I have a hope for this nation for my child and her children. If we continue to fight over petty things and tear each other down, we will face the fate many tribes and nations faced that were decimated......we must learn to put aside our differences from time to time and focus on our common bond- to live in a nation that allows a poor man to work hard enough to no longer be poor, that allows worship of your faith without fear of death and to raise your families without much fear....
As we remember , lest we not forget....what America really means....
