Is America Coming Of Age?

A decade ago, before the emergence on the national stage of Colin Powel, it was inconceivable that one of the major parties would nominate an African American as its Presidential candidate in the forseeable future. Kudos to the Melting Point for moving beyond the legacy of racial discrimination and exploitation.

But then who would have known a decade earlier, that being a Muslim would carry the stigma of being a Jew in Nazi Germany or Stalin Soviet Union or, for that matter, being a Christian in Pax Romana? Who would have known that the nation conceived by the ideal of secularism, where every person was free to practice their faith, which sought to overcome centuries of Intra-Christian denominational fratricide in Europe, would succumb to the same old religious stereotyping and baiting?

George Stephanopolis' aggressive interview of Barack Obama, Obama's use of the term "my Muslim faith" rather than "my alleged Muslim fiath", the email campaign using the clip without context, the allegation that this was a Fruedian Slip rather than a slip of tongue, the very fact that Obama's religion or allegation about religion is an issue -- are harbingers of a regression in American secular values in a segment of the public at least.

One step ahead in Racial equality? One step back in religious freedom?