Okay, I already know the answer from most of you, but here's the deal.
I'm writing an article in the school newspaper about people who live outside the US and their opinions on us, be it out foreign policy, government, people, etc. So, being that I frequent here a lot, I figure I'd ask you guys instead of being vague and uninformative, telling our students that people from sandy countries want to kill us and people from cold places think we are lazy, although I'm sure it'd be news to a few of them.
So, post away. Try to make it civil /quotable too, please. That way I can include you.
2
An amazing fact is that, despite some of the comments I've made on here, I actually have great respect and admiration for the Americans.
I suppose what frustrates me, and others like me so much in the UK is not what America is, but what America looks frighteningly like becoming. As any student of Ancient or Modern history can tell you, societies, when they base their policies, not only at home, but also abroad, on a set of religious values, that society becomes prone to corruption and can also often be held back from growth by religious constraints.
I'm not going to go into specifics, theres no point and the argument would carry on forever
Religion is a good thing, to be honest, I am not an atheist, but I also don't worship a God that is small enough to fit into any book, make of that what you will However, religion is also a deeply personal thing, you must feel humbled by it. That is why religion should stay out of politics, in my opinion, because you are no longer humble then, you wield power, and power corrupts.
America is the country that will, in almost all certainty, lead us into at least the near future. They have a society based on political and religious freedom, for all it's occasional falls from grace, I never knew a country that tried so hard to promote freedom, but as Martin Luther King, himself a minister, a speaker for God, once said :-
Freedom is like life, you cannot be given life in instalments. You cannot
be given breadth but no body, nor a heart but no blood vessels. Freedom is one thing - you have it all or you are not free.
I suppose what frustrates me, and others like me so much in the UK is not what America is, but what America looks frighteningly like becoming. As any student of Ancient or Modern history can tell you, societies, when they base their policies, not only at home, but also abroad, on a set of religious values, that society becomes prone to corruption and can also often be held back from growth by religious constraints.
I'm not going to go into specifics, theres no point and the argument would carry on forever
Religion is a good thing, to be honest, I am not an atheist, but I also don't worship a God that is small enough to fit into any book, make of that what you will
However, religion is also a deeply personal thing, you must feel humbled by it. That is why religion should stay out of politics, in my opinion, because you are no longer humble then, you wield power, and power corrupts.America is the country that will, in almost all certainty, lead us into at least the near future. They have a society based on political and religious freedom, for all it's occasional falls from grace, I never knew a country that tried so hard to promote freedom, but as Martin Luther King, himself a minister, a speaker for God, once said :-
Freedom is like life, you cannot be given life in instalments. You cannot
be given breadth but no body, nor a heart but no blood vessels. Freedom is one thing - you have it all or you are not free.
Last edited by Flipside on Mon Nov 01, 2004 5:49 am, edited 1 time in total.
6
Flipside:
as dr evil would say, I didn't spend 8 years in evil medical school to be called mister...
Point is Martin Luther King was a minister and I beg you to please refer to him as such. I am not sure that he would agree with the extent that religion has been surgecially removed from government. I am certain the framers of the constitution would agree. I personally agree with a seperation of church and state. But, if it wasn't for the desire and the intellect of the religous and educated in the colonies this revolution would never happened.
Thank you flipside for your kind words. England loss was the worlds gain.
as dr evil would say, I didn't spend 8 years in evil medical school to be called mister...
Point is Martin Luther King was a minister and I beg you to please refer to him as such. I am not sure that he would agree with the extent that religion has been surgecially removed from government. I am certain the framers of the constitution would agree. I personally agree with a seperation of church and state. But, if it wasn't for the desire and the intellect of the religous and educated in the colonies this revolution would never happened.
Thank you flipside for your kind words. England loss was the worlds gain.
8
I don't feel like I am better that anyone else in the world. If I did that would be the first step toward facism. but I generally that the US has been here when the rest of the world goofs up. IE both world wars.
However, I generally think very little of foreign governments especially when I look at the UN. But, I don't despise anyone in a foreign countries
However, I generally think very little of foreign governments especially when I look at the UN. But, I don't despise anyone in a foreign countries
13
One of the things that I, as an American, have noticed is that we have been raised since we are little to believe that our country is the best in the world.
Some people, unfortunately, misinterpret that as "perfect" and "no room for improvement". Well I have news for everyone out there: there is always room for improvement. We must constantly better ourselves.
[NTF speech]
We as human beings -- the only species on this planet to have achieved sentience -- must do better than we have been.
We must put the tragic eras of paranoia, hatred, and misunderstanding behind us, and move forward into a new era of prosperity and harmony as equals.
Terran Unity, Terran Pride!
[/NTF speech]
Some people, unfortunately, misinterpret that as "perfect" and "no room for improvement". Well I have news for everyone out there: there is always room for improvement. We must constantly better ourselves.
[NTF speech]
We as human beings -- the only species on this planet to have achieved sentience -- must do better than we have been.
We must put the tragic eras of paranoia, hatred, and misunderstanding behind us, and move forward into a new era of prosperity and harmony as equals.
Terran Unity, Terran Pride!
[/NTF speech]