Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Un-American?
"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard-working, very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation." – Gov. Sarah Palin
"Liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God." – Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC)
“The news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they pro-America or anti-America. I think people would love to see an expose like that.” – Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
This campaign season has taught us many, many lessons. Some of these lessons are those which we want to replicate, others are actions or attitudes we need to avoid. As we near the end (and thank goodness we are actually reaching the end) we get to learn another lesson.
Thanks to the remarks by the above representatives of our government, we get to see how easy it is to try to dissect America and belittle others. It seems, over the past few days, the Republicans across this nation have decided that all those people who agree with them are good Americans, patriotic Americans, and more godly Americans.
As you all know by now, I am a liberal (well, at least on social issues). I would apologize for this, but I just don’t think it’s a bad thing. Now, many of you reading this do not agree with me politically and that is perfectly fine by me. This world would be amazingly boring if everyone was in lockstep together on political beliefs.
But, does being a liberal mean I don’t believe in G_d? Given I’m a Jew, most people are not going to agree with me as a matter of religious belief. But does that actually mean that I am less religious than most. I certainly don’t believe so. I don’t think one has anything to do with the other.
Does being a liberal mean I don’t work hard or value those who do? Well, I was taught my work ethic by my parents and grandparents. I always try to give those I do a job for my extra mile of effort. Not that I’m the greatest or most intelligent person on the planet, but I always try to work hard. I also appreciate when someone goes the extra mile in their professions, and I hope I express that appreciation.
Finally, does being a liberal mean I am un-American? Wow, how do I answer that? Let me try.
I have tried to teach my boys the importance of being a good and active citizen of this country. We are blessed with many liberties, but those come with responsibility. I take those responsibilities seriously. I always vote. When called, I have never shirked jury duty. I pay taxes (we can all argue the correct amount, but I do pay). I always try to obey the laws of the land (no speeding tickets in 4 years).
So in all of that, where am I un-American….un-patriotic?
I love this country, but does that mean I must always agree with the leaders on the decisions that they make. If my reading of history is correct (and I love historical non-fiction), the Founding Fathers wanted the citizenry to question the ideas and process of those governing. The whole idea behind the First Amendment is to guarantee and promote the debating of our country, the wonderful idea that is representative democracy.
Why has it become acceptable to question a person’s patriotism or love of country if they do not agree with you? How can we expect our leaders to govern us to our greatest good if we are promoting the idea that their motives are against the national interest? As much as I have hated many of George W. Bush’s policies, I have never questioned that he was doing what he thought was best for our country.
So why is it OK to think the same of Barack Obama, or anyone who is not a Republican?
But that has been the message this last week. It’s open season on questioning the patriotism and the love of country of Democrats.
Is this going to help bring our country together? Is this going to help us overcome the problems which are facing us? Or is this going to continue to rip us apart as a people, as Americans? We need to stop the name-calling and hatred.
We can do better. We need to do better.
"Liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God." – Rep. Robin Hayes (R-NC)
“The news media should do a penetrating expose and take a look. I wish they would. I wish the American media would take a great look at the views of the people in Congress and find out are they pro-America or anti-America. I think people would love to see an expose like that.” – Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN)
This campaign season has taught us many, many lessons. Some of these lessons are those which we want to replicate, others are actions or attitudes we need to avoid. As we near the end (and thank goodness we are actually reaching the end) we get to learn another lesson.
Thanks to the remarks by the above representatives of our government, we get to see how easy it is to try to dissect America and belittle others. It seems, over the past few days, the Republicans across this nation have decided that all those people who agree with them are good Americans, patriotic Americans, and more godly Americans.
As you all know by now, I am a liberal (well, at least on social issues). I would apologize for this, but I just don’t think it’s a bad thing. Now, many of you reading this do not agree with me politically and that is perfectly fine by me. This world would be amazingly boring if everyone was in lockstep together on political beliefs.
But, does being a liberal mean I don’t believe in G_d? Given I’m a Jew, most people are not going to agree with me as a matter of religious belief. But does that actually mean that I am less religious than most. I certainly don’t believe so. I don’t think one has anything to do with the other.
Does being a liberal mean I don’t work hard or value those who do? Well, I was taught my work ethic by my parents and grandparents. I always try to give those I do a job for my extra mile of effort. Not that I’m the greatest or most intelligent person on the planet, but I always try to work hard. I also appreciate when someone goes the extra mile in their professions, and I hope I express that appreciation.
Finally, does being a liberal mean I am un-American? Wow, how do I answer that? Let me try.
I have tried to teach my boys the importance of being a good and active citizen of this country. We are blessed with many liberties, but those come with responsibility. I take those responsibilities seriously. I always vote. When called, I have never shirked jury duty. I pay taxes (we can all argue the correct amount, but I do pay). I always try to obey the laws of the land (no speeding tickets in 4 years).
So in all of that, where am I un-American….un-patriotic?
I love this country, but does that mean I must always agree with the leaders on the decisions that they make. If my reading of history is correct (and I love historical non-fiction), the Founding Fathers wanted the citizenry to question the ideas and process of those governing. The whole idea behind the First Amendment is to guarantee and promote the debating of our country, the wonderful idea that is representative democracy.
Why has it become acceptable to question a person’s patriotism or love of country if they do not agree with you? How can we expect our leaders to govern us to our greatest good if we are promoting the idea that their motives are against the national interest? As much as I have hated many of George W. Bush’s policies, I have never questioned that he was doing what he thought was best for our country.
So why is it OK to think the same of Barack Obama, or anyone who is not a Republican?
But that has been the message this last week. It’s open season on questioning the patriotism and the love of country of Democrats.
Is this going to help bring our country together? Is this going to help us overcome the problems which are facing us? Or is this going to continue to rip us apart as a people, as Americans? We need to stop the name-calling and hatred.
We can do better. We need to do better.
# posted by Kevin @ 9:47 PM 
