“We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this earth,” Barack Obama said last week in his inaugural address. “We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and nonbelievers.” Inspiring words if you ask me.
Not to everyone, it turns out. A number of religious leaders have since criticized that line as further proof that Obama plans to move away from the Christian ideals they believe accompanied this nation’s inception.
Obama is onto something, though, and it isn’t just secular liberal elitism. Our generation is coming of age at a moment of social change comparable to the 1960s. That revolution was all about freeing the individual. Sexual liberation and personal autonomy were the watchwords of the decade.
Today it’s all about bringing together the group. We’ve always been a nation of religious diversity. It’s been a matter of pride, if not always practice, that we respect the right of each citizen to worship-or not worship-as he sees fit. It wasn’t shocking to hear Obama say that out loud, but rather to hear there are still people who’d prefer that he hadn’t.
The growing inclusiveness doesn’t stop at religion. Acceptance of homosexuality continues to increase. Traditional gender roles are being discarded by a generation whose girls have been taught that they can do anything their brothers can and whose boys have seen first hand what their sisters are capable of. Old prejudices aren’t being legislated away; they’re fading as we grow up. We weren’t around for the battles of the civil rights and feminist movements. We’ve just lived their rewards.
I don’t mean to say we’ve transcended prejudice. Bigotry, subtle and overt, continues to plague our world, and there’s much left to be done. But with each generation we open our arms wider to welcome the diverse multitude that is the United States of America.
This country is made great not by what her people share but what they can learn from one another. Our history has shown time and again that progress can’t be stopped. Within our skin, we aren’t all the same. The world would be boring if we were. It’s the differences that make us who we are.
Our generation looks back on centuries of struggle and forward to centuries more. But the first post-baby boomer president, elected in no small part thanks to the efforts of people like you and me, has firmly shown that we stand at the dawn of a new era of inclusiveness.
That’s something we all can believe in.
-Nathaniel French
Opinion Editor
