In today’s sacred freedom of America, there are this month three religious/ethnic celebrations of origin, joy, introspection and devotion. First is the Christian Christmas, then the Jewish Hanukkah begins that evening, while African American Kwanzaa begins the next day.

One of the great gifts that the Framers of the U.S. Constitution bestowed unto succeeding generations was the blessing of religious freedom. First in Article VI of the original Constitution; then in the first two rights protected by the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights, adopted Dec. 15, 1791.

The American Constitution with its Bill of Rights signaled a momentous shift in the way governments ruled. The 1787 Constitution went right to the crux of the change established by this new republican form of government. The very first words of the Preamble, which lays out what the Constitution is all about, are “We the People ...” This is the first time in all of human history an explicit delineation of the origin and democratic authorization of power was spelled out in a national covenant.

The people, guided by their own mind — or, as it was said in the 18th century following their own freedom of conscience — would devise the form of government most conducive to their pursuit of happiness. Think as you will, the new concept of government said, and be unafraid to espouse your ideas in this new republic founded on the principles of land, law, learning and liberty.

Even so, America has a strange history of intolerance entwined with freedom. Some of this bias is racist, some religious, some ethnic; but freedom always pokes through with open arms, hearts and minds for the newcomer. This is entirely fitting because the first newcomer, as Christian canon has it, was the breakaway Jew whom we know as Jesus the Christ/Messiah.

Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa have different emphases; but all three celebrations seek redemption from evil and elevation of human kindness.

Paul M. Craig

Northampton