Americans need to face a few sad facts
first of all we are a corrupt, violent society, ignorant of the world around us. We equate freedom with the endless purchase and possession of guns, whereas in reality our freedoms should lie in Washington, where our so called representatives are slowly eroding our civil liberties. We have a government whose only interest lies in the re election of its own members, and where the interests of the people and the country itself are left in the dust. Decisions are made according to re election needs, and according to the size of so called campaign contributions (bribes). We have a sorry history of mass murders since this gun madness began in the texas towers in the 60's and has continued unabated since then, with no end in sight.
We equate everything evil with muslims who are, if you read the koran with an open mind, far more peaceful than christians and, over time, have caused far less sorrow and destruction than the Christians including yes, that old bug a boo, the crusades. Yes the Koran does condone the killing of infidels only, and only if, the Muslims right to pray is impeded or violated. Even then, it is best parlay and settle the problem diplomatically, via a discussion and, if nothing works, then he may resort to violence. The Koran also mentions that respect must be shown to both jews and christians, since they descend from holy prophets, such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The bible, booth old and new, and the church, advocates killing anyone who disagrees with established dogma.
No I am not a Muslim; in fact I am a devout atheist who wants to see religion and all that superstitious nonsense banned.
As for terrorists, let's look at home first. What is the definition of a terrorist? One who creates terri, death and destruction anywhere which is convenient to someone's particular cause. Let us look no further than Cuba, the Phillipines, Greece, Argentina, Brazil, Iran, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Panama. All countries in which we have toppled democratically elected governments and replaced them with thugs such as Noriega, Pinochet and the Shah of Iran.
Once we step off our pedestal and realize that our arrogance and hypocrisy are the cause of many world wide problems, things might improve a bit.
The really sad fact is that Americans are so proud of calling them selves Christians, when in reality our whole lives are spent doing everything contrary to Jesus's teachings. We crave wealth and possessions, we are becoming less and less tolerant towards others and our once proud traditions of generosity and philanthropy towards the less fortunate are being eroded and replaced with greed and selfishness. We create wars for the sake of profit, and our lives dominated by one thing only - money.
Yes you may say, but what about foreign aid? Foreign aid as a rule goes to those who possessions we crave. Oil, minerals, gold etc...When Rwandans were killing each other with the blessing of the Church what did we do? Nothing really, they have no oil or wealth to mention.
We need to wake up and realize that, like it or not, the world belongs to all of us, and the worse we make it, the worse off we will become. America had the potential to be great, to create a world unknown to humanity before, populated by men of genius and eloquence in our government (Jefferson, Franklin etc..) and we are now reduced to the likes of mumbling idiots such as Bush and Palin.
What has happened to us? What has happened to the vision of Americans the world had of us, of the selfless G.I who sacrificed his life willingly for others, and whom the world loved and respected?
= new reply since forum marked as read
It's applied to Americans and/or Christians. 
.
I, along with you, don't make those exceptions.
You have no idea how right you are. Actually, you probably do. 
Americans need to face a few sad facts
first of all we are a corrupt, violent society, ignorant of the world around us. We equate freedom with the endless purchase and possession of guns, whereas in reality our freedoms should lie in Washington, where our so called representatives are slowly eroding our civil liberties.
We have a government whose only interest lies in the re election of its own members, and where the interests of the people and the country itself are left in the dust.
Decisions are made according to re election needs, and according to the size of so called campaign contributions (bribes). We have a sorry history of mass murders since this gun madness began in the texas towers in the 60's and has continued unabated since then, with no end in sight.
We equate everything evil with muslims who are, if you read the koran with an open mind, far more peaceful than christians and, over time, have caused far less sorrow and destruction than the Christians including yes, that old bug a boo, the crusades. Yes the Koran does condone the killing of infidels only, and only if, the Muslims right to pray is impeded or violated. Even then, it is best parlay and settle the problem diplomatically, via a discussion and, if nothing works, then he may resort to violence. The Koran also mentions that respect must be shown to both jews and christians, since they descend from holy prophets, such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus. The bible, both old and new, and the church, advocates killing anyone who disagrees with established dogma.
No I am not a Muslim; in fact I am a devout atheist who wants to see religion and all that superstitious nonsense banned.
As for terrorists, let's look at home first. What is the definition of a terrorist? One who creates terri, death and destruction anywhere which is convenient to someone's particular cause. Let us look no further than Cuba, the Phillipines, Greece, Argentina, Brazil, Iran, Chile, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Panama. All countries in which we have toppled democratically elected governments and replaced them with thugs such as Noriega, Pinochet and the Shah of Iran.
Once we step off our pedestal and realize that our arrogance and hypocrisy are the cause of many world wide problems, things might improve a bit.
The really sad fact is that Americans are so proud of calling them selves Christians, when in reality our whole lives are spent doing everything contrary to Jesus's teachings. We crave wealth and possessions, we are becoming less and less tolerant towards others and our once proud traditions of generosity and philanthropy towards the less fortunate are being eroded and replaced with greed and selfishness. We create wars for the sake of profit, and our lives dominated by one thing only - money.
Yes you may say, but what about foreign aid? Foreign aid as a rule goes to those who possessions we crave. Oil, minerals, gold etc...When Rwandans were killing each other with the blessing of the Church what did we do? Nothing really, they have no oil or wealth to mention.
We need to wake up and realize that, like it or not, the world belongs to all of us, and the worse we make it, the worse off we will become. America had the potential to be great, to create a world unknown to humanity before, populated by men of genius and eloquence in our government (Jefferson, Franklin etc..) and we are now reduced to the likes of mumbling idiots such as Bush and Palin.
What has happened to us? What has happened to the vision of Americans the world had of us, of the selfless G.I who sacrificed his life willingly for others, and whom the world loved and respected?
Hope it is alright, just thought more will take time to read with breaks. It is very worth reading!
... I agree with everything you said. Unlike some of us here on DU, I was not turned off by the appearance of your OP. When someone types like that, I stop and give it my fullest attention. Especially when someone calls themselves "historian."
I agree with you. The USA could have been "the shining city on the hill," had it taken the road less traveled. The road of peace, of truth, of knowledge and science, of good will to the world. We could have wiped out hunger in our life time. We could have stopped the killing wars and used the money to build a better country for our selves and many others several times over. There would have been no violent blowbacks. We could have stomped violence and hate to the ground. And I believe that turn in the road could have lead to much more profit than we did after taking the other route.
I was overwhelmed by the words of the Uncle of the young Boston Marathon bomber. What he said was all true. We do have it good in this country. Unlike where he came from, he is free to live and believe what he wants in this country. He can walk down the street and not be accosted. He can work hard and own a home and care for and enjoy his family. We US citizens often take these freedoms for granted.
Because not all of us can have a job with a decent living wage and work hard and take care of our families anymore. That American Dream is gone. Pensions gone, health care gone, Labor Unions gone, home foreclosures up, hunger up, 300 million guns on the loose in God only knows who's hands, kids joining the military in hopes of a college education which they will never see, as they will come home with PTSD, or mutilated/maimed, or worse dead.
Yes, this country took the road most traveled. The route of greed, avarice, hate, intolerance, and violence. We are free, to the extent that the Uncle mentioned. But more and more of us are free also to be homeless, unemployed, hungry, hopeless. And here we are, historian. Like my Mom used to say, we must "take all these sour lemons and make lemonade." We must continue on, fighting the good fight, doing everything we can to change our country for the better. We have no alternative, do we?
Do not let the snark hurt you or silence you. I hear you and I do think the country has gone down a really bad road, as a whole. Of course there are millions of great Americans with integrity and compassion. Unfortunately they are not the ones running the show. That's just a fact. Thank you for a thoughtful and sincere op. 
