RANT
I got a forward from a wonderful friend who probably thought the man who wrote it had some good points. At first, I did too, but then, the debate queen in me got the better of me, and the more I read, the more I got pissed off.
This is what the forward said:
Will we still be the Country of choice and still be
America if we continue to make the changes forced on
us by the people from other countries that came to
live in America because it is the Country of Choice
??????
Think about it .
All I have to say is, when will they do something about MY RIGHTS? I celebrate Christmas, but because it isn't celebrated by everyone, we can no longer say Merry Christmas. Now it has to be Season's Greetings. It's not Christmas vacation, it's Winter Break. Isn't it amazing how this winter break ALWAYS occurs over the Christmas holiday? We've gone so far the other way, bent over backwards to not offend anyone, that I am now being offended. But it seems that no one has a problem with that.
This says it all!
This is an editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa newspaper. He did quite a job; didn't he?
Read on, please!
IMMIGRANTS,
NOT AMERICANS,
MUST ADAPT.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks
had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our
own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.
If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we
will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great American freedom,
THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
It is Time for America to Speak up
If you agree -- pass this along;
if you don't agree -- delete it!
AMEN
I figure if we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please.
If I don't agree, I usually speak up. So these are the problems I have with this:
"I celebrate Christmas, but because it isn't celebrated by everyone, we can no longer say Merry Christmas."
There is no rule that says you may not say Merry Christmas to your friends and family. By all means, spout the phrase as much as they can stand it without smacking you. The problem arises when people ASSUME that everyone wants to hear it. If you have a problem with someone NOT celebrating Christmas, forget about Hanukah and Kwanzaa and everything else. Just don't say anything. How about that? No one will be offended.
"I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture."
Since I have lived in non-American, neutral territory, I can say as a matter of fact that the rest of the world is pissed off at us for exactly this reason. America has NEVER worried whether or not they have offended someone. We do what we want, when we want. This is what gets us into trouble. In some cases, it is a good thing, but don't expect that there won't be backlash from it. I have been to a lot of places and I've seen anti-American riots in plenty of them. For example, Dublin and Paris were not fun places to be when Bush was visiting. What do you think the reason for this was?
"This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity."
A multicultural community IS our national identity. The population, with the exception of Native Americans, is ENTIRELY made up of immigrants. There is NO other nationality that is native to this country. Period. Therefore, if you are NOT Native American, you cannot claim that it is "more" your country than anyone else. Moreover, we are ALL American.
And somehow, living in this diverse cultural grab basket has made us smug. We all seem to feel a vast sense of entitlement for having lived in this country, and people start believing a few complete falsehoods.
1. English is the national language.
Utterly untrue. As a matter of fact, there is NO national language. When the Europeans came here, there were HUNDREDS of languages being spoken here by all of the different tribal nations. John Smith and the Puritans came from England, Cortez came from Spain, Columbus came from Italy. There is also the argument that the Vikings came first. Any one of these nationalities could have provided our national language. But they didn't, because Americans represent a cross section of the rest of the world. You know you wouldn't have it any other way.
2. America was founded on a basis of religion.
Totally incorrect. If you do the research, you will find that the Puritains left England in 1620 in search of freedom from religious oppression and persecution. But this is completely irrelevant. This was not when the country was founded. Nor was it founded by Columbus in 1492, when he stumbled onto these shores, or when John Smith landed in Jamestown in 1607. It wasn't even founded upon the Native American ideas of nature worship (although, in my opinion, we'd be better off if it had.).
America was founded in 1776 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
It states:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
In this paragraph, God is NEVER mentioned. The word "Creator" can be anyone's interpretation of the word. If you are willing to take on a major debate, I am well armed with reason why this word is NOT specifically refering to a Christian God. To interpret it in such a way is as silly as saying that the phrase "all men are created equal" does not refer to women.
And if that is the nature of your argument, we have a much bigger problem on our hands.
"As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."
The word "lifestyle" is what bothers me in this sentence. As Americans, we don't have A lifestyle. One single, solitary lifestyle for the entire population of the most powerful country in the world? Is that a fair statement? Not remotely! As a country, it could be argued that we represent as many lifestyles as there are people. And why not? Define the word for me! And then tell me that an immigrant should attempt to fit him/herself into it. I guarantee they will have no trouble.
"It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."
If there is clear documentation about the founders of our nation being Christians, then it should be just as clear that there are measures put in place to make this redundant. It's called Separation of Church and State.
We know what happens when the two are mixed: The Spanish Inquisition. The Crusades. The Salem Witch Trials. The Taliban.
Granted, these are extreme cases, but they are also not the only examples. There are hundreds. My own personal opinions aside, it is not a good idea for people whose ideals are corrupted by religious teachings to be using them to make the rules.
"Because God" or "the Bible said so" is never a good enough reason why a law should or should not be adopted.
Now, going forward with this concept, schools are PUBLICLY funded. Meaning my athiestic tax dollars are just as important as anyone else's. I would suggest that if you want the word "God" on the walls of your children's schools, you are perfectly within your rights to send them to a private school of a religious denomination.
Let Church and State remain independant of each other.
"We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from."
First of all, I would appreciate it if you would speak for yourself. I don't happen to share this opinion and clearly, you do not know the opinions of the entire country, otherwise my thoughts would definitely be more clearly represented, and for the record, you would NEVER have been elected to speak.
Second, if in fact, America trully doesn't care how things are done in the rest of the world, well, isn't that reprehensible?
Ever heard the saying "No man is an island"? It's from a great poem by John Donne:
No man is an island,
entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less...
any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind...
There is more. But that should explain my point well enough. WE ARE NOT ALONE ON THIS PLANET. There is much to see and much to know. If a person would rather lead the most basic of lives, never venturing past the borders, or caring to see what the rest of the world had to offer...
Well, what a sad, pathetic, agorophobic vision of the world that would be.
I would have to pity that person.
This is what the forward said:
Will we still be the Country of choice and still be
America if we continue to make the changes forced on
us by the people from other countries that came to
live in America because it is the Country of Choice
??????
Think about it .
All I have to say is, when will they do something about MY RIGHTS? I celebrate Christmas, but because it isn't celebrated by everyone, we can no longer say Merry Christmas. Now it has to be Season's Greetings. It's not Christmas vacation, it's Winter Break. Isn't it amazing how this winter break ALWAYS occurs over the Christmas holiday? We've gone so far the other way, bent over backwards to not offend anyone, that I am now being offended. But it seems that no one has a problem with that.
This says it all!
This is an editorial written by an American citizen, published in a Tampa newspaper. He did quite a job; didn't he?
Read on, please!
IMMIGRANTS,
NOT AMERICANS,
MUST ADAPT.
I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture. Since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, we have experienced a surge in patriotism by the majority of Americans. However, the dust from the attacks
had barely settled when the "politically correct" crowd began complaining about the possibility that our patriotism was offending others.
I am not against immigration, nor do I hold a grudge against anyone who is seeking better life by coming to America. Our population is almost entirely made up of descendants of immigrants. However, there are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some born here, need to understand. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity. As Americans, we have our own culture, our
own society, our own language and our own lifestyle. This culture has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
We speak ENGLISH, not Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn the language!
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some Christian, right wing, political slogan. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation, and this is clearly documented. It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture.
If Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. This is OUR COUNTRY, our land, and our lifestyle. Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion and we
will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of one other great American freedom,
THE RIGHT TO LEAVE.
It is Time for America to Speak up
If you agree -- pass this along;
if you don't agree -- delete it!
AMEN
I figure if we all keep passing this to our friends (and enemies) it will also, sooner or later get back to the complainers, lets all try, please.
If I don't agree, I usually speak up. So these are the problems I have with this:
"I celebrate Christmas, but because it isn't celebrated by everyone, we can no longer say Merry Christmas."
There is no rule that says you may not say Merry Christmas to your friends and family. By all means, spout the phrase as much as they can stand it without smacking you. The problem arises when people ASSUME that everyone wants to hear it. If you have a problem with someone NOT celebrating Christmas, forget about Hanukah and Kwanzaa and everything else. Just don't say anything. How about that? No one will be offended.
"I am tired of this nation worrying about whether we are offending some individual or their culture."
Since I have lived in non-American, neutral territory, I can say as a matter of fact that the rest of the world is pissed off at us for exactly this reason. America has NEVER worried whether or not they have offended someone. We do what we want, when we want. This is what gets us into trouble. In some cases, it is a good thing, but don't expect that there won't be backlash from it. I have been to a lot of places and I've seen anti-American riots in plenty of them. For example, Dublin and Paris were not fun places to be when Bush was visiting. What do you think the reason for this was?
"This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity."
A multicultural community IS our national identity. The population, with the exception of Native Americans, is ENTIRELY made up of immigrants. There is NO other nationality that is native to this country. Period. Therefore, if you are NOT Native American, you cannot claim that it is "more" your country than anyone else. Moreover, we are ALL American.
And somehow, living in this diverse cultural grab basket has made us smug. We all seem to feel a vast sense of entitlement for having lived in this country, and people start believing a few complete falsehoods.
1. English is the national language.
Utterly untrue. As a matter of fact, there is NO national language. When the Europeans came here, there were HUNDREDS of languages being spoken here by all of the different tribal nations. John Smith and the Puritans came from England, Cortez came from Spain, Columbus came from Italy. There is also the argument that the Vikings came first. Any one of these nationalities could have provided our national language. But they didn't, because Americans represent a cross section of the rest of the world. You know you wouldn't have it any other way.
2. America was founded on a basis of religion.
Totally incorrect. If you do the research, you will find that the Puritains left England in 1620 in search of freedom from religious oppression and persecution. But this is completely irrelevant. This was not when the country was founded. Nor was it founded by Columbus in 1492, when he stumbled onto these shores, or when John Smith landed in Jamestown in 1607. It wasn't even founded upon the Native American ideas of nature worship (although, in my opinion, we'd be better off if it had.).
America was founded in 1776 with the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
It states:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
In this paragraph, God is NEVER mentioned. The word "Creator" can be anyone's interpretation of the word. If you are willing to take on a major debate, I am well armed with reason why this word is NOT specifically refering to a Christian God. To interpret it in such a way is as silly as saying that the phrase "all men are created equal" does not refer to women.
And if that is the nature of your argument, we have a much bigger problem on our hands.
"As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language and our own lifestyle."
The word "lifestyle" is what bothers me in this sentence. As Americans, we don't have A lifestyle. One single, solitary lifestyle for the entire population of the most powerful country in the world? Is that a fair statement? Not remotely! As a country, it could be argued that we represent as many lifestyles as there are people. And why not? Define the word for me! And then tell me that an immigrant should attempt to fit him/herself into it. I guarantee they will have no trouble.
"It is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture."
If there is clear documentation about the founders of our nation being Christians, then it should be just as clear that there are measures put in place to make this redundant. It's called Separation of Church and State.
We know what happens when the two are mixed: The Spanish Inquisition. The Crusades. The Salem Witch Trials. The Taliban.
Granted, these are extreme cases, but they are also not the only examples. There are hundreds. My own personal opinions aside, it is not a good idea for people whose ideals are corrupted by religious teachings to be using them to make the rules.
"Because God" or "the Bible said so" is never a good enough reason why a law should or should not be adopted.
Now, going forward with this concept, schools are PUBLICLY funded. Meaning my athiestic tax dollars are just as important as anyone else's. I would suggest that if you want the word "God" on the walls of your children's schools, you are perfectly within your rights to send them to a private school of a religious denomination.
Let Church and State remain independant of each other.
"We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from."
First of all, I would appreciate it if you would speak for yourself. I don't happen to share this opinion and clearly, you do not know the opinions of the entire country, otherwise my thoughts would definitely be more clearly represented, and for the record, you would NEVER have been elected to speak.
Second, if in fact, America trully doesn't care how things are done in the rest of the world, well, isn't that reprehensible?
Ever heard the saying "No man is an island"? It's from a great poem by John Donne:
No man is an island,
entire of itself;
every man is a piece of the continent,
a part of the main;
if a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less...
any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind...
There is more. But that should explain my point well enough. WE ARE NOT ALONE ON THIS PLANET. There is much to see and much to know. If a person would rather lead the most basic of lives, never venturing past the borders, or caring to see what the rest of the world had to offer...
Well, what a sad, pathetic, agorophobic vision of the world that would be.
I would have to pity that person.
posted by Kally Hanifin at 12:03:00 AM
1 Comments:
well said. I throughly agree on all points and you argue a lot better than I can in writing, cause I have a hard time getting past the "no, just listen for a minute, you narrow-minded, christian, racist fuck..."
(ok so I don't really say that most of the time, just think it, but it just makes me SOOOO angry)
I could go on a whole rant of my own. thanks for saying all this. and in the most secular way:
AMEN sister!
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