America

dorkelf

dorkelf

Active Member
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment-ferrara092501.shtml

This great article was forwarded to me this morning. It really got me thinking: What does it really mean to be an American? Are we characterized by disregard for other nations and other points of view, or an unprecedented national diversity? Are Homer Simpson and Al Bundy quintessential American males, or the firefighters who died running up the steps of the World Trade Center while others were rushing out? Are we hated by others because we are viewed as warmakers, cowboys and tyrants, or out of jealousy and resentment over our strength and success? There are indeed many, many Americans who are closed minded, arrogant, ignorant, intolerant, and we are also the most generous people in the world, statistically. We gather together in unity and solidarity to chant amens while our preachers defend the unborn, we march down the street in Pro-Life rallies, and then we sit on our hands while politicians endorsing the 'right to choose' are voted in because we can't tolerate any of that politics garbage. We tell people about how Jesus changes lives while statistics show that divorce rates among born-again Christians are exactly the same as the general population. With all our hypocracy, all the bad mixed in with the good, it is easy to conclude that those who hate us do so because of this hypocracy, and because of all those bad things that are part of America.

But, I don't think that is true. I think we are not really hated for our bad, but out of jealousy and resentment of our good. We certainly weren't ever hated for our horrible failure to use military strength to prevent genocide, but we've been hated every time we've dared to use it for any reason. We are not hated because of those of us who are arrogant, egotistical, or corrupt either, because all of those kinds of people exist in Switzerland, France, Germany and Saudi Arabia too - and those countries are not generally hated around the world! So why does it seem that we are? Again, I think it is not because of our bad. It is because of our freedom and tolerance, and desire to see freedom spread throughout the world.

There are some Americans who really do hate America. There are those on the left who hate America for occupying Iraq. There are those on the right who hate America for tolerating sex, drugs and rock'n'roll while smashing school prayer with an iron boot. Every person in this country can find a reason to hate America. But there is one reason, one very important reason why we can all love America, no matter our viewpoints or political persuasion, and it is very simple: We are free in this country to believe as we like and act in any way that does not harm our fellow man, with very little danger to our lives, liberties and property for doing so. Lunatic liberals who characterize the 911 terrorists as misunderstood freedom fighters and conservatives who put 'There's no such thing as Christian rock' on their Church signs instead of 'Our Church is for you, come join us' may seem like good reasons to hate America. But to me, those kinds of viewpoints are an absolute, irrefutable sign that freedom in this country is far from some unattained, nice-sounding ideal. It is really what we still experience here every day.

Paul
 
"weren't ever hated for our horrible failure to use military strength to prevent genocide, but we've been hated every time we've dared to use it for any reason."

I disagree. The reason that we're generally disliked by the people we are is the perception that we are defined by our greed, self-righteousness, and inability to respect other cultures. Cultural (and military) Imperialism isn't the predominant political philosophy among most of us, but if you ask someone from another country . . .

There are plenty of cultures which don't hate us and people who don't hate us within the cultures which do. In the middle east, for instance, it is in the best interests of those who have power and money to demonize the U.S. so that their opponents within their own societies remain focused on the U.S. rather then domestic concerns.

The desire to misperceive those who disagree with you is as strong internationally as it is in America, where the "lunatic liberals" and the brainwashed conservative sheep argue over non-issues and vote generic interchangable rich old white men into power over and over and over and over.
 
wishanem said:
I disagree. The reason that we're generally disliked by the people we are is the perception that we are defined by our greed, self-righteousness, and inability to respect other cultures. Cultural (and military) Imperialism isn't the predominant political philosophy among most of us, but if you ask someone from another country . . .
Click to expand...

You make a great point. Obviously many people around the world will say they resent our moral Imperialism ('Crusaders' was a common derisive term in the wake of our response to 9/11). I believe that's a white elephant - and the real reason for hating us is quite a bit less noble and flattering. I think they really hate us for all the reasons we tend to hate ourselves - which have a lot more to do with what we tolerate rather than what we don't. I'm wondering if you see any merit in that idea? (and by the way, thanks for disagreeing with me in such an agreeable fashion! ;) )

Paul
 
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Agreeable? Now here I thought I was being belligerent.

I think you're fundamentally right that others tend to hate us for the reason we hate ourselves, but that's as true on a personal level as it is in international relations (which is to say inconsistently). I like to think that us Americans (by which I mean those in the US, not all the Americas) are just more honest with ourselves and by extension everyone about what's wrong with us. We're not the world's only degenerates, we're just the most proud of it.
 
I work for a Lebanese man, and I know quite a few Middle Easterners, so I have a bit of an "inside view" of this issue.

A lot of the hatred of Americans in the Middle East can be directly traced to those in power. You know how you hear about Aljazeera publishing horrible things about Americans (and Westerners)? Well, that is the primary (sometimes only) source many have for news. They literally do not know any differently.

So the real question is, why do some many of the people in power hate us?
 
IMHO, the reason so many people in power hate America is the fact that the American middle class is the hardest single group for people in power to control. They can control the poor through Social Security and other "social programs" designed to create a government-reliant class. They can control the rich (not the elite, which is them, but the rich) with tax breaks and controls over international trade. But they cannot control the average American working person. This is why they hate the military, because most of the servicemen and women are excellent examples of the free-spirited middle-class. They want us to be a prolitariat class, relying on the government for the basic joys in life while serving as cattle for the elite. (1984 looks more and more like real life every day I live on this earth.)

Sounds a little harsh, but that is the reason why people in power hate us. Why does so much of the world hate us? Partly because those in power do, and partly because of the fact that we have allowed a very vocal minority in this country to spew garbage into the rest of the world. It is the same reason they hate liberal Europe. Many times in his tapes Osama Bin Laden has mentioned that they are at war against the sewer in Hollywood. Most of the new movies that come out are really trash, even I can agree with him there. Granted, Americans fight more rationally, with our wallets, but I can see the frustration the world has in our pollution of their minds. We need to start making Hollywood realize that we as Americans cannot tolerate their garbage. They can't stand for us to push our views on the world, but they are allowed to push their loose standards on us every day. It is as Jesus said in Matthew 5:29-30 "If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell." American living is actually desired in much of the world, most countries would very much like to be like the average American. But we are also lazy in our fight to keep our nation from slipping into sin like Sodom and Gomorrah. It is only by God's grace that we have made it thus far.
 
My 2 cents worth.

Why are Americans hated? By Islamics "mostly"

1. They see our country as a form of modern day Babylon.

2. It all goes back to the blood fued between Isaac and Ishmael.

3. See #2
 
I find this a very interesting discussion. I have a degree in history and geography, and these are questions that we were always asking. America sends out a very mixed message to the world, and different parts of the world take what they don't like and promote it as what America is "really" about. The Islamic countries look at Holywood and pop culture and say "see they are all about sex." They have a strong sense of modesty in their cultures. (Although it is often taken to extremes to the point of killing women who behave "immodestly) They don't allow women to make the choice of how they dress and behave. Although without true choice there cannot be truly modest behavor. On the other hand how much choice do American women have to choose to be modest when they are judged based on how they look (and how much skin they show) beginning when they start school at the age of 5?

On the other side of the world, European countries see us as way too conservative. Since some Americans try to stop things like homosexual marriages, abortions, and the like they see us as intolerant.

If people in American really what to be a city on a hill for all the world to see what we have to offer, we need to stop sending mixed signals for what we stand for expecially as the church. If the church body as a whole can't stand united on the word of God, then how can we hope to win these countries respect, so that we could eventually win them for Christ?
 
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