Worries and Ways

A tragedy the magnitude of 9/11, with its continuing worries of more. The ongoing wars and subsequent deaths of our young in the fields of harm around the globe fighting an ideology and not a country is another worry and the rhetoric of blame, and ethnic separation in the current political arena can force a tolerant democracy into a society of contentious non-compromising ideologues.

Uncompromising, passionate certainties, wherever you find them, in politics, in business, in our neighborhoods and even in our families, are always dangerous. If we find ourselves heading that way, we might want to rethink our position for cemented thought always hardens into a shape that may not fit a positive future.

Our founding fathers demonstrated that all opinions are to be valued for their contribution to the whole, and by majority vote, incorporated into the greater good, even though their singular intrinsic value may be suspect.

Shared ideals are the essence of collective growth, for they are not only the building blocks of freedom and liberty, but they also nurture hopes and wishes and encourage individuals to let go of demeaning and constraining beliefs and when that is done the only value left is reason.

Despite our internal penchant for prejudice, profiling and pandering to our fears, America is still the haven for the oppressed, for the dreamer, for the builder, the scholar, the poet, the artist, and the idealist, even the mystic, for all know America is the place where the manifestation of great thoughts sustains the precious opportunity of creation.

The freedoms we have are sacred. The only way we lose them is through fear, and prejudice. Great thoughts, great opportunities, and great creations need an inclusive society to flourish.