[Today: To mosque or not to mosque...]
Because our government is more than 230 years old, it’s tempting to think of American democracy as a finished product. But the recent outcry over a proposed Islamic community center near the site of the World Trade Center bombings in New York only underscores that our democracy is an ongoing process, subject to challenge from some of the people who consider themselves its most patriotic citizens. Those opposed to the construction of this community center feel that it’s an affront to the victims of that disaster, regardless of how the families of those victims may feel about it.
I’ll admit that when I first heard about this proposal I was slightly uncomfortable with it – it’s easy to see this building as a thumb in the eye of the New Yorkers who suffered through 9/11. But what the protesters of this structure either fail to grasp or refuse to acknowledge is that personal feelings are irrelevant to this discussion. Our country was founded on the principle of freedom of religion, and compromising that ideal is more dangerous to our democracy than all the suicide bombers in the world. Our constitution and bill of rights can’t be for some of the people some of the time – we’ve got to go all in, even when it’s a painful challenge. Such challenges are the litmus test of whether our government can live up to its strictures.
In this sense, our democracy isn’t well-represented by the note perfect renditions of the national anthem that occur before our sporting events. Instead, the slippery inner workings and intense national debates that drive our government are better represented by Jimi Hendrix’ raw, shattered version of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’. His swooping, diving guitar fires off angry feedback that sounds like crazed protest. Here democracy isn’t melody and harmony, but friction and fractures, and within that noise is the sound of authenticity.
Neil Young’s ‘Rockin’ In The Free World’ gets right to the heart of the immediate issue – it’s not difficult to imagine the narrator of this song as a young Muslim American (“Don’t feel like Satan but I am to them/So I try to forget it any way I can”). For good measure Neil digs into abortion, peeling back a scab on an issue that has eaten at the national consciousness for decades. This song waves the red, white and blue at the intersection of democratic ideals and hard reality. When one of our citizens is denied rights and freedoms enjoyed by all, our whole nation becomes poorer for it…
Listen: The Star Spangled Banner
Listen: Rockin’ In The Free World
