What Makes America Beautiful

America is beautiful because of what it stands for.
Or, at least, what it used to stand for.
For years, America was the place others in the world would look to for acceptance, for hope, for a chance to start over. It was the great melting pot. A place founded on principles of religious freedom. A place to escape oppression, hatred, and tyranny.

I personally was touched by the Coca Cola super bowl ad. I thought it showed the diversity of culture, faith, and race that sets our country apart, that makes it special. I've heard comments about this ad saying things like "the language of terrorism," or "my soldier didn't die for those people." The only "language of terrorism" is hate. I am so sorry for anyone that has lost a loved one to war, but I hope that they fought and died for the freedom of those they loved, as well as many that they didn't know. Like those in the revolutionary or civil wars, I hope they died so that others could be free from oppression, enslavement, and cruelty. America is supposed to be the place where we can escape these things, not where we face them.

Please, for all our sakes, let's put a stop to this racism, religion-ism, language-ism, any type of oppression, bullying, and hatred. We may disagree on many points, but that doesn't mean that we can't get along. We may worship God differently from each other, or not at all, we may vote differently, we may have completely different lifestyles, but that is what makes America so wonderful.

As long as we're able to love each other, America is beautiful.