It has now been well more than 48 hours since the mass shooting in Orlando. I don't have the time to write about it and do it the justice it deserves, but I will say that it was an attack against America in general, not only against what has come to be called the LGBT community.
Regardless of whatever individual ingredients were included in Omar Mateen's psychological stew, fundamentalist Islam was the pot that cooked the stew. Fundamentalist Islam is fundamentally anti-American because it is fundamentally opposed to individual liberty -- which makes it fundamentally intolerant, since a free society must necessarily be a tolerant one.
Ours is a nation based not on geography or ethnicity or any other "accident of birth," but on ideals -- primarily the ideal of individual liberty.
When Mateen gunned down more than 100 people in the wee hours Sunday morning, he attacked them and their loved ones far more wickedly than he attacked the rest of us. But make no mistake, he did attack the rest of us because he was also targeting our collective, foundational right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He sought not only to murder gay people, but to help unsettle a society whose founding principles enshrine people's right to be what they are and do what they choose so long as they do not infringe on the rights of others. He sought to advance a theocratic agenda that aims to crush individual rights and sweep them from the face of the earth.
Of course, we as a nation have not attained our goal as a nation. Because countries are composed of human beings and all human beings are flawed, our goal might not even be attainable. But over the course of history, the United States has come closer than any other country to achieving the goal, precisely because it is our goal.
Not for nothing did Martin Luther King write: "We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom."
Not for nothing did Richard Nixon, of all people, hit the nail on the head when he said: "Let us reject the narrow visions of those who would tell us that we are evil because we are not yet perfect, that we are corrupt because we are not yet pure, that all the sweat and toil and sacrifice that have gone into the building of America were for naught because the building is not yet done."
Our nation is struggling with many ills at this point in history, but the immediate wake of the June 12th massacre is not the proper time to pick nits over those ills. Since the news broke, what I have noticed most about our people, the American people, is our unity.
It reminds me of the inflection my grandfather often used when he spoke our country's name. A World War II veteran and quite rebellious Baptist preacher, he made a point of saying "we are the United States."
Yes, I am opposed to tribalism and identity politics and I think they pose an internal threat to our nation. But I am not at all offended by the proliferation of rainbow-tinged profile pictures that have popped up on Facebook over the last couple days, almost all of them posted by heterosexuals. To me, they are a sign of unity within our borders and an affirmation of our common humanity. They show the world that an attack against any part of America is an attack against all, and that we will not stand for it.
And yes, of course we should extend that support beyond our borders, to freedom lovers across the globe, for that is the American thing to do. Like Henry Cabot Lodge once put it: "I will go as far as anyone in world service, but the first step in world service is the maintenance of the United States...for if we stumble and fall, freedom and civilization everywhere will go down in ruin."
Today is Flag Day. I hope most of us take a moment on this day to appreciate the freedom that is symbolized by Old Glory, and I hope we use it to strengthen our collective resolve to defeat those who would extinguish it.
And with that thought in mind, here is my own little salute to our country, which I have published before, "illustrating" the lyrics to God Bless America using photographs I've taken across our "fruited plain":
Regardless of whatever individual ingredients were included in Omar Mateen's psychological stew, fundamentalist Islam was the pot that cooked the stew. Fundamentalist Islam is fundamentally anti-American because it is fundamentally opposed to individual liberty -- which makes it fundamentally intolerant, since a free society must necessarily be a tolerant one.
Ours is a nation based not on geography or ethnicity or any other "accident of birth," but on ideals -- primarily the ideal of individual liberty.
When Mateen gunned down more than 100 people in the wee hours Sunday morning, he attacked them and their loved ones far more wickedly than he attacked the rest of us. But make no mistake, he did attack the rest of us because he was also targeting our collective, foundational right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. He sought not only to murder gay people, but to help unsettle a society whose founding principles enshrine people's right to be what they are and do what they choose so long as they do not infringe on the rights of others. He sought to advance a theocratic agenda that aims to crush individual rights and sweep them from the face of the earth.
Of course, we as a nation have not attained our goal as a nation. Because countries are composed of human beings and all human beings are flawed, our goal might not even be attainable. But over the course of history, the United States has come closer than any other country to achieving the goal, precisely because it is our goal.
Not for nothing did Martin Luther King write: "We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom."
Not for nothing did Richard Nixon, of all people, hit the nail on the head when he said: "Let us reject the narrow visions of those who would tell us that we are evil because we are not yet perfect, that we are corrupt because we are not yet pure, that all the sweat and toil and sacrifice that have gone into the building of America were for naught because the building is not yet done."
Our nation is struggling with many ills at this point in history, but the immediate wake of the June 12th massacre is not the proper time to pick nits over those ills. Since the news broke, what I have noticed most about our people, the American people, is our unity.
It reminds me of the inflection my grandfather often used when he spoke our country's name. A World War II veteran and quite rebellious Baptist preacher, he made a point of saying "we are the United States."
Yes, I am opposed to tribalism and identity politics and I think they pose an internal threat to our nation. But I am not at all offended by the proliferation of rainbow-tinged profile pictures that have popped up on Facebook over the last couple days, almost all of them posted by heterosexuals. To me, they are a sign of unity within our borders and an affirmation of our common humanity. They show the world that an attack against any part of America is an attack against all, and that we will not stand for it.
And yes, of course we should extend that support beyond our borders, to freedom lovers across the globe, for that is the American thing to do. Like Henry Cabot Lodge once put it: "I will go as far as anyone in world service, but the first step in world service is the maintenance of the United States...for if we stumble and fall, freedom and civilization everywhere will go down in ruin."
Today is Flag Day. I hope most of us take a moment on this day to appreciate the freedom that is symbolized by Old Glory, and I hope we use it to strengthen our collective resolve to defeat those who would extinguish it.
And with that thought in mind, here is my own little salute to our country, which I have published before, "illustrating" the lyrics to God Bless America using photographs I've taken across our "fruited plain":
God bless America...
Land that I love...
Stand beside her and guide her...
Through the night...
With the light from above...
From the mountains...
To the prairies...
To the oceans white with foam...
God bless America...
My home sweet home...
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