Give Faith the Freedom to Flourish

These last couple of years I had the privilege of being back home in the United States. After having lived so many years in small and mostly authoritarian countries – nano-managed by their paranoid regimes – I have been amazed to witness again the way civic life flourishes in America.

Here, people come together – voluntarily – to stitch the richest fabric of any society that has ever existed. Churches, neighborhood committees, think tanks and charitable organizations all work, not to control each other but to improve the quality of our democracy. I have realized again what sustains America’s place in the world.

Some do not understand this or think we achieve greatness through means that limit the individual. Individualism is what we are so known for; not “harnessing” it but instead setting it free. Individuals are encouraged to find what stokes their individual passions and connect with others to make that fire more intense.