Friday, January 14, 2005

Let Freedom Sing

I'm not exactly Kid Rock's biggest fan. As a matter of fact, the first Kid Rock song that I ever heard in its entirety was a version of "Lonely Road of Faith" that he performed on CMT Crossroads. I remember hearing the song for the first time and thinking to myself, "This guy has an amazing voice. Who in the world is this guy?" When I learned that it was Kid Rock I was almost embarrassed. How could I have possibly found the music of someone as disgusting as Kid Rock so outstanding? I was conflicted.

The theme for the inauguration is "Celebrating Freedom, Honoring Service." What better way to celebrate the freedom that we all share as Americans than by bringing together people from different backgrounds and lifestyles to share the things we have in common? Far too much of the world is devoted to the things that divide us. The Founding Fathers didn't see eye to eye all the time but they were able to come together on the things they had in common. Rather than condemning Kid Rock for our differences lets celebrate the fact that we both desire a country where we're free to make our own choices for the things that affect us. I can choose to worship God and pray openly (except in school) and he can choose to sing songs about violence and drug culture.

Perhaps if we chose to celebrate the things we have in common more often then we would be able to establish a rapport with people that would serve as a vehicle for open and honest dialogue about the issues on which we disagree. That's a far cry from the environment we see today where Democrats will vote for anyone but Bush and Bush supporters are writing books entitled "How to Talk to a Liberal (If You Must)." My take? Establish some guidelines for the event that govern the conduct. Minimum standards could be set in regards to appearance, language, etc. If Kid Rock were willing to agree: let freedom sing!