Happy Independence!

If I were to write a personal essay on "Why it's Great to be an American" it would begin and end with the freedom of expression. The key to understanding America's magnificence is not in the often said motto, "My country -- right or wrong". It's "My country -- right and my responsibility and freedom to speak up if I think my country is wrong."

Although democracy may be cumbersome and justice a long time coming, they are better than living under the yoke of a totalitarian regime. People who have spent their lives in fear ... of dictators, of religious leaders, of black and white standards, of unbending laws ... cannot fathom the kind of life we enjoy in the United States. They can't imagine independence, never having experienced it.

An Iranian friend has said to me, "Divorce is wrong. It should be against the law. How can you have laws without religion?" This kind of thinking typifies the lack of understanding I just alluded to. Some Americans may think divorce is wrong, but others think it is right. And all have the right to think and say what they will and act as they please in regard to ending a marriage. Divorces can be undone. Something like murder cannot, and thus we have laws making murder a crime. We don't need religion to tell us to do so. As human beings we can decide what is right and wrong.

Even better, if we disagree with a law, we are free to express our opinion verbally and in all media, to rouse others to join in opposition, and to change the law. This is because the law is an expression of the will of the people of the land, not a fixed set of rules handed down through generations from a society that no longer exists. Nor is it controlled by an oligarchy that is not accountable.

Happy Birthday, America -- "the land of the free"