Jul
8
Still Happy to Be an American
“Gallup reports that just 32 percent of Democrats call themselves ‘extremely proud’ of their national identity, compared with 74 percent of Republicans who say the same.” — Ben Shapiro, Newsweek
The amount of anti-American sentiment these days is truly amazing. Even those who benefit from the (relative) freedoms and wealth of American society and business can often be heard railing against the “evils” of the United States of America. Despite all the good America has done and continues to do, both for its residents and its (sometime) allies, some people only focus on the imperfections and mistakes past and present. Indeed, they can’t understand how the rest of us can not be ashamed of our country, or worse.
A Facebook friend of mine, Rick Walston, was reflecting on this recently. (Just f.y.i., Rick is Founder, President Emeritus, and professor at Columbia Evangelical Seminary.) His comments rang true to me, and he was kind enough to let me share those thoughts with you all….
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Just my 4th of July thought:
It is both interesting and sad to me how many people (both inside and outside of America) *EXPECT* that we must dislike or even hate America. (I was told that I needed to do so this last 4th of July.) Some people find great pleasure in pointing out the flaws of America. (See how well that works in a marriage!) Is America perfect? Of course not. However, jumping on the “hate America bandwagon” will not magically make it perfect or even better. With that in mind, let me ask, what nation on the face of the earth is perfect? Not. a. single. one.
Oh, some will comment that other countries have “universal health care” or some such, but in reality these are ALWAYS paid for by the people with an outrageous tax system that is far more vexing than the American system. Others will claim that a utopian socialism is the way to go . . . but the fact is that mankind is evil and selfish and the overseers of socialistic systems have always cut themselves a “larger piece of the pie” while the commoners starve. Before I go on and on, let me just say that my point is this: there has never been a perfect form of government, but the American form of government has been a good example for other countries for better freedoms and benefits to its people. Churchill said, “Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.”
Now, I do miss the America I grew up in. If I had to select a decade to relive over and over, I’d select to live in a repetitive time of 1958 to 1968 . . . others might pick different times. However, even though this is not 1958-1968, this is still America. We have the right to speak, to disagree, to be free, to love one another, and to agree to disagree. Until all that is taken away — and that might happen someday — I’m still happy to be an American.
Side note: My 5th great-grandfather, Rob Morris, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the financier of the American Revolution. Without his money, we would never have won the Revolutionary War. You will see his signature just right of John Hancock’s.
P.S. For those about to pounce on me . . . yes, I am aware that America is a Constitutional Republic.
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Thanks for reading! (And thanks again to Professor Rick for sharing.)
P.P.S. Regarding Rick’s “P.S.”, I wonder if he read my post from last week…. 🙂
