08.19.06
This I Believe: Fourteenth Post (America and Thinking)
I found Eboo Patel’s essay on religious understanding to be both heartbreaking and inspiring. His organization sounds amazing. Colin Powell’s piece was fantastic. It talked about America and the promise of America. He said that we need to be careful that we don’t close off ourselves from outsiders because our open, welcoming spirit is part of what makes the country great. Security measures are important and we should pay attention to who is coming into the country and why, but we can’t discourage people from coming (and we’ve sort of been doing that lately). I think that he’s right. Frederic Reamer’s essay was rather unique. It didn’t state what he believes, but rather why it is important and why it is important for him to think about it and be sure he believes it. It was about justice and balancing the rights of victims with the rights of criminals. It definitely made one think!