Not so long ago, this nation was admired by all the world. Not only did we have a huge selection of goods, we lived in a society where people cared about each other. Not in a welfare sense, but in a neighborly sense We took a healthy interest in what was going on in the neighborhood. We spoke to our neighbors, and offered help when help was needed.
Such caring was demonstrated most recently in the tragedies of the hurricanes in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. At the same time, though, we were hearing harsh words and personal attacks daily on the television and radio. People are not shy about attacking our president, sometimes viciously. It seems to be a national sport.
Is it any wonder, then, that international “Hate America” campaigns are gaining momentum? It is not President Bush’s fault. The fault lies in each one of us. If we hate each other, why shouldn’t others? If we cannot tolerate a different opinion or approach to a problem, how can we survive? If we can’t “get it together,” how can we expect respect for our nation, which is still the greatest nation on the planet? Sure we have faults. We have seldom agreed totally on anything. But, we did know how to be cohesive and collaborative. Everything was not black or white, red or blue, and we understood how to stand together and disagree without being disagreeable.
We are displaying behavior that is teaching our children that it’s okay to slap each other around, act hateful, and say mean things about each other. Some of our commercials are violent in a “humorous” way. Surely we are not modeling behavior that the rest of the world wants to emulate. How can we be a leading nation under these circumstances.
Our military forces can win our wars with bullets and missiles. It’s up to the rest of us to win the minds and hearts of the rest of the world. We have seen that charity does not do that alone. We need to lead by example–an example that as worthy of being followed.
Hate is spreading and we tolerate a great deal of it here against fellow Americans. It’s time to take personal responsibility to stop participating in it.
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