Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Please Remember What It Means to Be An American This Week


For reasons that won't be enumerated here, my hearts been hanging a little heavy lately. Between the election, the wars, and the economic crisis, stress is high for everyone in this country. I guess since I haven't posted for awhile - and since I might not post again until after the election - I wanted to make an appeal for people to think hard about and remember what it means to be an American.

It doesn't mean you ascribe to a particular political party or ideology. It doesn't mean you ascribe to a particular religion. You don't have to come from a small town to be an American, or a big city. You don't have to be a soldier or a farmer either - although many of the world's soldiers and farmers are Americans. You can be sexually attracted to someone of the same sex and still be an American. You don't have to have light skin to be an American. And for all the serious and important debate about the bureaucratic process of becoming a citizen, it's not important at all to have been born here for you to be an American. You can have an abortion and still be an American. You can commit a crime and still be an American.

I tried a couple "what does it mean to be an American?" paragraphs to tack on here, and I can't seem to write one that makes sense. I just know that in America, individuals matter - not groups that individuals may belong to.


2 comments:

Evan said...

This may sound corny, but I'm proud to have you as my brother.

I appreciate your post.

D Brandt said...

Thank you, it's not "We the states" or "We the Christians" but "We the people"...