Shhh. I am about to say is something so radical that it will jangle every politically correct nerve in your body. And yet…it is true. The founding and traditional culture of the United States, its Judeo-Christian heritage and boots-on-the-ground decency is superior to all other cultures this world has produced. And it certainly beats the radical worldview (part Marxist, part Islamic, and all thug) that our political and media elites — led by the president of the United States — are imposing upon us.
Scream if you must — but then think. Think about what former Godfathers Pizza CEO Herman Cain — Christian and African-American — and so many others recognize as “the greatest country in the world.” Outside of the cocoons of condescension wrapping the university and urban strongholds of our trendy elites, this is recognized not as jingoism but truth. Cain insists that our “unparalleled freedom” and “innovative and industrious people” have combined with “exceptional” American traditions to produce the single country to which most people want to come. Columnist/talk show host Dennis Prager notes that American success, as defined by freedom and economic opportunity, “refutes” all that our leftist elites hold dear.
So what does this mean? It means that centuries of Americans have largely been making right choices. Judeo-Christian culture joins the ability to choose — also known as free will, a gift from God — with an emphasis on individual restraint and good behavior. Choices that reflect the virtues arising from restraint (such as a respect for individuals regardless of gender, race or religion) are better than those that do not. Some combinations of choices are objectively superior to others. The choices made over time in the United States have produced a culture of greater value than what the American Heritage Dictionary defines as the “totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought” produced by the other nations of the world.
In other words, we have a culture superior to those of other nations. The proof of the pudding is in the eating, someone wise (probably not Charlie Sheen) once said. Its value shows in a citizenry that consistently leads the world in private charitable giving while basing politics and social mobility on God-given natural rights. Everyone from any culture may enjoy these rights once they legally join a polity inseparable from its Judeo-Christian value system. Here in this nation we have collectively created an existentially superior set of values, beliefs, and behaviors. For the vast majority of Americans, our Judeo-Christian culture works…and not only well, but better than anything else available.
“Aargh,” you say? Double “aargh,” even. What about all that stuff I was taught in school, the America for which our Professor-in-Chief has serially apologized? What about slavery, Jim Crow, and the hate crimes even now perpetrated against Muslims in the United States? Glad you brought that up. Slavery was abolished at great cost in lives and treasure, driven by the Christian narrative that all are equal in the eyes of God; however, it still exists in parts of the world where Judeo-Christian voices barely whisper. Jim Crow and segregation are gone, conquered by a culture that, as Dinesh D’Souza put it in What’s So Great About Christianity, “assesses human worth not through power and possessions but through the virtue that we integrate into our daily lives.” Meanwhile, segregation rules in Islamic countries where an official “two-tiered culture” is policed by religious leaders who resemble mafia dons rather than men of God, as Richard Butrick tells us in American Thinker. In Iran, women are required by law to shroud themselves from head to foot and travel in the backs of buses; the Iranian Rosa Parks was stoned, not celebrated. And about that Islamophobia — ain’t happening. Even reliably leftist and radical Islam-friendly CNN was forced to acknowledge that only a bit over 8 percent of the hate crimes in the United States are against Muslims, while almost three-quarters are against Jews.
Read More at American Thinker By Stuart Schwartz, American Thinker
Please share this post with your friends and comment below. If you haven’t already, take a moment to sign up for our free newsletter above and friend us on Twitter and Facebook to get real time updates.
Follow @WestJournalism
Loading ...
"centuries of Americans have largely been making right choices. … with an emphasis on individual restraint and good behavior"
Like killing off most of the Indians and pushing the rest onto reservations, importing slaves, and engaging in widespread colonization at the expense of the rest of the world?
"American culture is superior. Period."
Ignoring the intellectually lazy shift from the overly simplistic "Judeo-Christian Culture"–gee, I wonder what Israel, Angola, Mexico, Romania, Rwanda, Russia and Vatican City have–to "American culture," I suspect most of the world would disagree. Most of us who live here wouldn't want to be anywhere else, but probably the same is true of most people in most countries.
Nobody said "perfect". "Best" is demonstrable. We Americans have built, invented, created, shared, & improved , not to mention saved more other folks' bacon, than the rest of the world combined, by orders of magnitude. This is called being at the top of the FOOD CHAIN, aka being THE BIG FISH who eats the littler fish. #1 is best. #2 is just the first loser. Our US Strategic Air Command says it best: "Peace Through Superior Firepower." If you wish to play win/win with the sharks populating the rest of the world, you get to be shark food. You may have my share of that game. If any other country in the world were in our position, they'd likely execute the "Nuke 'em all & let God sort 'em out" plan. When it comes to being in charge, I trust US and us more than anyone else. Period. If you believe that someone else has it more correct than us, then go there & leave us be. I am quite sure there is a reason why folks are risking everything to get in here. Can't say the same for too many other places…
Actually there are a lot of nations with immigration problems right now from people "risking everything" to be there. And few of them believe having the most firepower makes a nation "best."
Agreed. African slavery (which ended 150 years ago btw) and our gross mistreatment of America's indigenous people (which continues in some measure but in large part due to misguided big-government policies) are huge blemishes on our record. And we did have nearly 100 years of Jim Crow which was another unfortunately stupid policy. But we also had the Civil Rights Movement and subsequent changes in both our laws and our attitudes toward race. In other words, we have attempted, and are still attempting, to right our wrongs.
I believe that most Americans today have more or less recognized the wicked vice of racism and have, done their best to put it away. But I also believe that pride of race and ethnic heritage are a natural human condition, not easily overcome, and not necessarily a bad thing – as long as we can respect the dignity of others.
Despite the ugly parts of America, I cannot forget the images of Ellis Island, where millions of Eastern Europeans (and others) passed through the gates into freedom from the oppressors of their own homeland. Nor can I forget the many good things this country has done for so many throughout the world. In the balance, despite the unseemly things, the good about America far outweighs the bad.
And for those who would trash the idea of Judeo-Christian Worldview, it's my guess that they really know far less about it than they actually think they know.