Can diversity and freedom exist within the context of a democratic civilization with centralized government? Upon seeing the story of the uproar surrounding the construction of the new mosque in neighboring Murfreesboro on the 6 o’clock news, I’m beginning to wonder. Before our nations birth, the before-they-were-new Americans fled British tyranny for economic, religious, and social freedoms squelched by mother monarchy. But were the pilgrims in over their heads? Are these ideals really possible?? Our founders sacrificed lives, comfort, and countless candlelit hours scribbling away at what we now know as the Constitution to establish the “freedoms” which you and I presently enjoy… and now, over two centuries later, are we living up to the script they authored? Are we still the land of the free where everyone may speak, worship, and live as they choose (within the norms of an established society of course)….were we ever, are we really…free? Are we free to build a house of worship outside the lines of the nation’s Christian heritage? Well, it appears so. At least literally…but not without total scrutiny and ridicule. People have gone crazy over the possibility of having an Islamic center of worship in their own town. They’ve brought out the kerosene-laden torches and are poised to strike the match. So for the minority, in this case the Murfreesboro Muslims, what kind of freedom is that? Certainly not one to be enjoyed…But must freedom always pose a fight? Makes me wonder…Is every modern civilization inevitably enslaved by the unwritten rules of the overwhelming majority…is this democracy’s wicked double edge? Does the totem pole ever fall? Is freedom amidst diversity REALLY possible? OR will all established civilizations inevitably revert to homogeneity, sameness, one way, one religion, one elite in order to maintain order, power, and control? Are we, young adolescent America, in for a lifetime of rebellion, where the oppressed break internal tyranny and establish a “new nation” so to speak…even within our own borders…hmmmm…I wonder.
