Conservatives, progressives, Christians, Jews and Muslims, evangelical, agnostic, atheist, rich, middle class, poor, citizen, alien, Democrats, Republicans, independents, undecideds.

 

Sticking labels on each other has become reflexive in the first years of the 21st century and I'm as guilty as anyone else. Labels are the easy low road.

 

Looking at another person and seeing the human there is more difficult. It gets even harder when we try to see things the way others see them, to consider their particular points of view and opinions and try to understand how they were formed and what sustains them. It's nearly impossible for many of us to walk in the other person's shoes.

 

So here we are at Christmas, 2011 and I have a proposal. How about if we Americans take the more difficult high road and quit labeling each other in 2012. Let's call each other Americans and leave it at that. I always think of those graves on the bluffs overlooking the beaches of Normandy and remember that, other than a cross, Star of David or the rare crescent, you will never know who was a conservative and who was a liberal; who was rich and who was poor. They were all just Americans and they died defending what all of us hold dear.

 

I know mine is a naive wish, but Christmas always brings out the little kid in me.

 

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Holidays, and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to All.