Are you free?  How do you know?  Today is Cinco de Mayo.  Cinco de Mayo celebrates freedom, the freedom of liberation, the freedom of knowing that one's oppressors are no longer standing over one's lives, dictating one's every move.  The freedom of knowing our own dignity. 
     Although freedom is a slippery term, I think that, at the least, we would all rather be free, however we understand it, than not.  We love making choices; we love being able to plan our lives.  Unfortunately, though all of us have this choice making ability, not all of us have the space to exercise it fully.
     That's the greatest tragedy of all.  We cannot therefore help but rejoice on Cinco de Mayo. Moreover, if we contend that we are people of faith, people who believe in a freely loving God, we demean that God when we parody or criticize, in any way, this day.
     We cannot laud freedom, much less God, when we despise those who legitimately exercise and affirm both.