For over two decades I have delivered a Thanksgiving Day address, which celebrates many traditions, most notably giving thanks for the health and happiness of our family and friends. Over the years I have spoken about the history as well as the meaning of Thanksgiving. Three years ago I spoke about Thanksgiving being a celebration of American core values, particularly democracy, religious tolerance, and capitalism, which I traced back to Enlightenment philosophers including Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Thomas Paine, and David Hume. I gave thanks to the 18th century philosophers who dreamed up the concept of the United States of America.
In 2008 I addressed how one of the Enlightenment's basic tenets, namely liberal capitalism, was under attack. This notion, first put forward by John Locke in the 17th century and energized by Adam Smith in the 18th, was being severely challenged by the economic tsunami that was sweeping across the world.
Last year I focused my Thanksgiving address on women. For all their vision, the 18th century Enlightenment philosophers never recognized the full equality of women. Perhaps because they were all men, just like all 41 signers of the
Mayflower Compact, these philosophers failed to empower women in their social, political and economic constructs.
This year my Thanksgiving address explored whether our nation is bifurcating into two fundamentally different views of America. One America sees our country as a set of political propositions; another views our nation as a distinct and distinctive culture.
These two views of America, one constitutional and one cultural, were vividly displayed during the controversy over the Islamic mosque and cultural center proposed for Ground Zero. One America viewed the project as the consummate manifestation of America's highest ideals. Using soaring rhetoric, President Obama and Mayor Bloomberg intoned “our unshakeable commitment to the principle of religious freedom” when insisting on “Muslims' absolute right to worship where they wish.” The second America saw things very differently. For these Americans, the project was an affront to the memory of 9/11, an insult to its 3,000 victims and their families, and an expression of disrespect for the norms and values of our country.
Both views of America have contributed to the success of our nation. During the great waves of 19th and early 20th century immigration, the insistence that new arrivals adapt to American culture, and discriminatory practices when they did not, was crucial to their swift assimilation. Whereas the ideals of one America protect the E pluribus, it is the demands the second America places on new arrivals that help bring about the unum.
The motto, “Out of many, one,” was adopted by Congress in 1782 for the Seal of the United States of America. Our leaders, including boards of directors, need to be aware of our nation's increasingly diverse peoples, races, religions, and ancestries, so that they can help effect the E pluribus unum our forefathers envisioned.