Friday, July 05, 2002
Silly Americans
Most of the time, there is very little difference between Canadians and Americans. We live in cities without long histories. We live in cultures that have only recently emerged, historically speaking. Many of us are only the first or second generation to grow up in our country.
We speak the same language (basically). We watch the same TV, the same movies, the same commercials (mostly).
On a day to day basis, there aren’t many clues as to how we are different.
But the MOMENT the constitution is mentioned, Americans become bizarre zealots who really have no clue. The first problem is that the language used to write their constitution hasn’t been modernised, so no one knows what the hell the ‘Founding Fathers’ really meant!
The second problem is that they just use their constitution to selectively defend whatever pet cause they might want supported that day.
The Pledge of Allegiance. Basically, they salute the flag, and state they believe in what the flag represents. That’s nice, we don’t have anything like that in Canada, but of course, the Canadian flag is very new, and not many ‘real’ wars have been fought under it. (No offence to Canadian troopers who have availed themselves many times over in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan, but it’s not the same as the World Wars we fought under the Ensign.) So maybe we don’t know what our flag stands for. In the 50’s, in order to hold back the red tide of ‘Godless Communism’, they added ‘Under God’ to the end of their pledge.
However, their constitution clearly forbids the government supporting religion. Which is fine, too many countries allow religion to interfere with daily life to the detriment of average citizens. So, they’ve decided that the ‘new’ pledge is unconstitutional, and they must revert to the original pledge. The same pledge that WW1, WW2 were fought under. What’s the problem with that? WHY are so many people up in arms? They say ‘Under God’ doesn’t refer to a specific god. Fine. There is also another clause that allows Americans to say whatever they want. If you want Under God, just say it. But if the very fabric of your society says the government cannot condone God, then the pledge should not refer to God.
To all the people who believe that God had something to do with the founding of the USA, keep in mind that it was God who made King George the King of the United States. He can’t have done both. Why can’t your country have been born of the blood of heroes? Why does God HAVE to be on their side?
The other part that just KILLS me, is that they say that obviously Under God doesn’t refer to a SPECIFIC god, so no one should be offended, and then they turn around and say that a ‘Well Regulated Militia’ obviously means every man woman and child old enough to lift a pistol has the right to own as many guns as they wish.
The selective reading is hilarious, and it’s hard to take both stands seriously. If you want to go word for word on one part of the constitution, you have to go word for word for the ENTIRE constitution.
Most of the time, there is very little difference between Canadians and Americans. We live in cities without long histories. We live in cultures that have only recently emerged, historically speaking. Many of us are only the first or second generation to grow up in our country.
We speak the same language (basically). We watch the same TV, the same movies, the same commercials (mostly).
On a day to day basis, there aren’t many clues as to how we are different.
But the MOMENT the constitution is mentioned, Americans become bizarre zealots who really have no clue. The first problem is that the language used to write their constitution hasn’t been modernised, so no one knows what the hell the ‘Founding Fathers’ really meant!
The second problem is that they just use their constitution to selectively defend whatever pet cause they might want supported that day.
The Pledge of Allegiance. Basically, they salute the flag, and state they believe in what the flag represents. That’s nice, we don’t have anything like that in Canada, but of course, the Canadian flag is very new, and not many ‘real’ wars have been fought under it. (No offence to Canadian troopers who have availed themselves many times over in Iraq, Bosnia and Afghanistan, but it’s not the same as the World Wars we fought under the Ensign.) So maybe we don’t know what our flag stands for. In the 50’s, in order to hold back the red tide of ‘Godless Communism’, they added ‘Under God’ to the end of their pledge.
However, their constitution clearly forbids the government supporting religion. Which is fine, too many countries allow religion to interfere with daily life to the detriment of average citizens. So, they’ve decided that the ‘new’ pledge is unconstitutional, and they must revert to the original pledge. The same pledge that WW1, WW2 were fought under. What’s the problem with that? WHY are so many people up in arms? They say ‘Under God’ doesn’t refer to a specific god. Fine. There is also another clause that allows Americans to say whatever they want. If you want Under God, just say it. But if the very fabric of your society says the government cannot condone God, then the pledge should not refer to God.
To all the people who believe that God had something to do with the founding of the USA, keep in mind that it was God who made King George the King of the United States. He can’t have done both. Why can’t your country have been born of the blood of heroes? Why does God HAVE to be on their side?
The other part that just KILLS me, is that they say that obviously Under God doesn’t refer to a SPECIFIC god, so no one should be offended, and then they turn around and say that a ‘Well Regulated Militia’ obviously means every man woman and child old enough to lift a pistol has the right to own as many guns as they wish.
The selective reading is hilarious, and it’s hard to take both stands seriously. If you want to go word for word on one part of the constitution, you have to go word for word for the ENTIRE constitution.
// posted by Charlotte @ 1:55:00 PM 
