Since some of the Americans on this forum are saying that we are all wrong to criticize their government and their country, maybe they would like to define themselves.
What is an American?
- Thread starter Reverend Blair
- Start date
Hate to criticize 
but i just have to post this your in trouble down there
New Utopia Magazine
Were lost up here 8O
but i just have to post this your in trouble down thereNew Utopia Magazine
Were lost up here 8O
I don't think I'm the one to define what an "american" is because I've been so often accused of being "anti-american" (don't know how, some of my best friends are) or "unamerican". I've been told so often to leave the country (though no one yet has offered to buy my ticket nor pay my moving exspenses). Since I'm a devout Catholic, I'm on the conservative side of the culture wars. I'm only on the left in the areas of economics (personalist with strong socialist tendencies) and foreign policy (pacifist, internationalist). The main identifying characteristic of an american that I can determine is his/her intense, cult like nationalism. This is so strongly ingrained in the american mind-set. We are even expected to pray to the flag.
Thats exactly what that article I posted said Elpolaco :lol: Your either with us or against us :x
Something I've noticed about what I consider to be real Americans...those aware of their real past and having a grasp of what their founding fathers were trying to achieve...is that they are as critical of the actions of their country as all of us anti-Americans up here in Canada.
Re: RE: What is an American?
I pledge allegiance to the flag, and to the republic for which it stands, blah, blah, blah...would this not be considered a prayer?
I think not said:
I pledge allegiance to the flag, and to the republic for which it stands, blah, blah, blah...would this not be considered a prayer?
Re: RE: What is an American?
No, it isn't, a promise isn't a prayer, I think he may be referring to the Under God phrase.
Vanni Fucci said:
No, it isn't, a promise isn't a prayer, I think he may be referring to the Under God phrase.
I'll tell ya...I went to Catholic school and they made us pray to their god every morning. When I see kids on TV reciting the Pledge og Allegiance I know exactly what they are doing...praying.
Ummm...no...
We're limited to the national anthem of our country...
I know when I was a kid we used to sing God Save the Queen...but times have changed since then...
We're limited to the national anthem of our country...
I know when I was a kid we used to sing God Save the Queen...but times have changed since then...
Re: RE: What is an American?
I think what you mean can I define an American, I don't think you're interested in how I define myself. If that's what you mean, I think I can.
A lack of self-seriousness, a grasp of irony and self-deprecating humor, a friendly informality with strangers, an unashamed curiosity, an openness to new experiences, an innate optimism, a willingness to think for oneself and speak one’s mind and question the accepted way of doing things. Individuality, imagination, initiative, inventiveness, patriotic (not nationalistic). Americans, are more likely to think for themselves and trust their own judgments, and less easily cowed by authorities or bossed around by “experts”; they believe in their own ability to make things better. A dynamism which communicates the idea that life can be an adventure and that there’s important, exciting work to be done.
But perhaps most important of all so rightfully said by an Australian: An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim or an atheist.
Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes; but they also welcome the least.
A national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, the tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.
So when anyone mocks Americans, you are mocking yourselves, because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place.
And finally, many people around the world will claim that Americans show that we are out of step with the rest of the world. Indeed, we've been out of step with the rest of the world ever since July 4, 1776.
Reverend Blair said:
I think what you mean can I define an American, I don't think you're interested in how I define myself. If that's what you mean, I think I can.
A lack of self-seriousness, a grasp of irony and self-deprecating humor, a friendly informality with strangers, an unashamed curiosity, an openness to new experiences, an innate optimism, a willingness to think for oneself and speak one’s mind and question the accepted way of doing things. Individuality, imagination, initiative, inventiveness, patriotic (not nationalistic). Americans, are more likely to think for themselves and trust their own judgments, and less easily cowed by authorities or bossed around by “experts”; they believe in their own ability to make things better. A dynamism which communicates the idea that life can be an adventure and that there’s important, exciting work to be done.
But perhaps most important of all so rightfully said by an Australian: An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans. An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim or an atheist.
Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes; but they also welcome the least.
A national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, the tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built America.
So when anyone mocks Americans, you are mocking yourselves, because Americans are not a particular people from a particular place.
And finally, many people around the world will claim that Americans show that we are out of step with the rest of the world. Indeed, we've been out of step with the rest of the world ever since July 4, 1776.
Re: RE: What is an American?
Well I was never really good at praying myself Rev. It is a far cry giving a promise to your country and praying to a supreme being. And those who don't want to pledge allegiance certainly don't have to, in 1942 the Supreme Court ruled no student should recite the pledge of allegiance if he/she doesn't want to.
Reverend Blair said:
Well I was never really good at praying myself Rev. It is a far cry giving a promise to your country and praying to a supreme being. And those who don't want to pledge allegiance certainly don't have to, in 1942 the Supreme Court ruled no student should recite the pledge of allegiance if he/she doesn't want to.
Re: RE: What is an American?
Why would you be surprised that they'd pray at a Catholic school?
They're not praying.Reverend Blair said:
Why would you be surprised that they'd pray at a Catholic school?
I wasn't. I was pointing out that I know a class full of kids praying looks like. When I see those kids doing the Pledge of Allegiance it is clear to me that they are praying.
How about illegal wars and invasions? Don't restrict yourself to the overt ones...you should try to justify the covert ones. While you are at it, why not justify the school of the Americas?
Reverend Blair said:
I'm well aware of all the illegal wars and invasions, and I applaud none of them. Anything else?