The Freedom to Disagree

Adrienne Lever
Special to the Mirror

   In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, many media commentators, TV anchors, and radio hosts sent out caveats to the American people alerting them that they might be forced to relinquish some of their sacred freedoms. Like many others, the first things that came to my mind were video cameras and armed security guards. However, I am beginning to think that the most significant freedom we are surrendering must be the freedom to disagree.
   There is a sign one freeway exit from my house, a huge billboard, with big white block letters against a black background, hammering “God Bless America” into every car speeding by. Every day while driving home, this semi-religious phrase is thrown in my face. Each time I walk out the door, I am bombarded with bumper stickers, billboards, posters, and store windows which relay the same message: God Bless America.
   I support my country and I know that everyone has the right to display any message they want. That is one of the freedoms I wish so badly to protect. Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy and it makes me proud to be an American.
   What makes me uncomfortable is not the phrase itself but the fact that it is all I see. No matter where I turn, I can’t escape it. Nor can I escape the possibility that it carries some implicit distaste toward those who don’t stand behind it.
   I am an agnostic. I don’t begrudge people who are religious, nor do I have any hostility towards religion or religious ideologies. But I feel inhibited, stifled by the barrage of bumper stickers, posters, window decals, and billboards which impose their ideologies upon me. I am not religious and I shouldn’t be forced to support a religious emblem under the threat of being considered un-patriotic.
   My nine year-old brother asked why we don’t have a flag on our car like everyone else. I feel as if I am being forced to explain why I don’t display American flags or request to have one painted on my curb address. Yet flags and “God Bless America” signs are displayed everywhere with impunity: no explanation required. In this “with us or against us” climate, it is impossible to make a nine-year-old understand that just because we don’t wave a flag, doesn’t mean that we are un-patriotic or opposed to those who do.
   I am also bothered that these signs say “God Bless America” rather than “God Bless the World.” It is as if we are the only ones who should be blessed, the only country that has lost innocent citizens. Yet terrorist attacks and other atrocities happen every day around the world. I certainly hope that our blessings extend beyond our borders.
   It seems that nowadays everybody is in support of America. Nobody is questioning the government or any of its actions, which have played their part in instigating the attacks. And anyone who dares to disagree with the President or any current display of national pride is suddenly considered un-American. I believe that disagreement is what makes us who we are as a country: “E Pluribus Unum.” If we all felt and thought the same, we would not be “One Out of Many” and uphold the diversity that makes us as a country so extraordinary.
   In the weeks subsequent to the attacks, several incidents elucidated the threat to our freedom of speech. Columnists and journalists who attempted to assert unpopular opinions ran headlong into the powers that be. Bill Maher, host of Politically Incorrect, had his show pulled “indefinitely” and was told by White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer that Americans “need to watch what they say.” Dan Guthrie, a columnist for The Daily Courier of Grants Pass, Oregon, wrote a controversial story, which was printed, but he was subsequently fired. Tom Gutting, the City Editor of The Texas City Sun, was fired after publishing a column under the headline “Bush Has Failed to Lead U.S.” and his paper later published a front-page apology for the article’s unpopular position. The message is clear: discussion is only permissible when it doesn’t incite any objections.
   If the freedoms that distinguish America from other less “democratic” nations cannot be used without reservation, they are worthless. We should have the freedom to state our political philosophies without being ostracized or penalized for disagreeing with the prevailing sentiments. We should not only be free to disagree, we should feel comfortable in doing so.
   I love my country and appreciate the freedoms I enjoy as an American. Which is exactly why I will not sacrifice any of those freedoms in the name of patriotism. United I will stand, but divided I must think.
   Adrienne Lever is a junior at Crossroads High School. This column originally ran, in a slightly different form, in “CrossFire,” the school’s student newspaper.