Almost every cause, every group, and every politician bandies about American Values, especially during elections. In fact, they spend a lot of their advertising budgets telling us what American Values are not by blasting their opponents. I don’t believe we have developed a formal set of American Values, however, so I have decided to set forth my own personal American Values in this posting, but first I’ll need to study the options. It’s confusing and I’m not sure which way to address this controversy. And it certainly is a pickle because your American Values may not be my American Values. Shall we explore?
American Values are attributed to our forefathers and many of us believe what we learned in elementary school: our forefathers were saints and created this country with saint-like intentions. I think as adults we all know how the world really works. They came here to create wealth and to keep it and not give most of it back to the King. They acquired land by the zillion acres. The land of opportunity.
All those first families who came here and found themselves developing democracy and our Constitution and our laws of the land were smart people (and rich and powerful so we are lucky they had democracy in mind otherwise we would be bowing low today) and they wanted to rid themselves of the monarchy and they did a great job creating the U S of A. King George, III, however, demanded his large share of the loot. A large share as well as control of the land of plenty. Hence, the American Revolution commenced and here we are today.
Along with breaking away from the British Empire for monetary gain was access to other freedoms denied them by the aforementioned King. Freedom of religion was next on that list–right after getting rich. Because of the passion of these families, most of them (but not all) Christian, spirituality was intertwined throughout our forming documents providing guidance as we grew into a great nation. A democratic form of government and religious freedom for all (religion and government being separate entities) were of paramount importance (except for Native Americans and slaves).
Keeping religion and government separate was a must since the King kept them bound together and we know how that turned out. Our spirituality enhanced our government doctrines but did not rule them. In some countries today religious leaders rule governments. We don’t like that form of government. We like separation of church and state. The reason we don’t like religion and government mixing is because if we had, say, a Christian-ruled government with, say, the Pope ruling our country, a whole bunch of people would riot. Then another group could fight for control and before you know it we could have the Ayatollah of Iran or David Koresh’s brother (if he had a brother). Safer to keep them separate.
Today, some folks who profess to have what they believe to be our forefathers’ American Values say or repeat the most hateful things. Sometimes what they say is not only hateful but incorrect and certainly not Christian. When I receive an email with a hate slur passed off as humor (and as truth) I immediately look it up and sure enough the comments are taken out of context and then spun into an agenda. Often the people with the agenda then declare that their view is for or against “our” American Values. Hey, they are not MY American Values. I do not spew hate and slurs. And while on the topic of my American Values let me point out my ancestry. Talk about an American. (Unless you’re a Native American and then you trump my puny ancestry.)
My first family member in the new world arrived here before the American Revolution. My family still has the original family property in Virginia and has deep roots in this country. I’m actually very proud of my long lineage and can only imagine what lives my ancestors lived. Slaves also came here early on so many African Americans have long lineage, longer than most Ellis Island come-latelys. The fact that they were forced from their native homes, leaving their “values” behind, and were then forced to take our values, our religion, our way of dress and our language (the King’s English, not Apache or Cherokee or Comanche, etc.), is mind boggling. Did we have American Slave Values? No, indeed we did not. Only monetary values. Slaves were valuable. When searching for African American lineage people find their ancestors on property lists along with the cows and chickens.
Curiously, when I grew up I didn’t realize God hated so many people and I certainly never thought Jesus did. I know the Old Testament has some heavy stuff in it but the New Testament is all about love and Jesus died on the cross for our sins and I’m just so confused. So when a soldier dies in one of our current war zones, certain Christian groups protest the soldiers’ funerals with large protest signs, shouting, spraying pepper spray, and flinging hate, because they believe, and I quote, “God is punishing our soldiers and killing them on purpose because our country is tolerant of homosexuality.” I’m not making that up. Check it out. Do they represent “our” American Values? These groups most certainly have a right to do this but do the soldiers’ families have rights to have funerals for their children without hate mongers raging outside during this profound time of sadness? I think dead soldiers represent American Values and religious fanatics do not. Wonder what our forefathers would think of those protestors? And, you know, doesn’t that type of anti-American protesting sound sort of, well, anti-American?
Some American Values are religious values that have morphed into “American” Values for everyone. One size fits all? Nope. So then do we have Catholic American Values, Mormon American Values, Jehovah’s American Values, Hindu American Values, Baptist American Values, Scientology American Values, Church of God American Values, Presbyterian American Values, Evangelical American Values, Muslim American Values, Methodist American Values, Lutheran American Values, Latter Day Saints American Values, or whatever? The list is staggering. American values regarding home and family are widely different as well. Do we have Divorced American Values, Married-60-Years-But-Miserable American Values, Having 20 kids American Values, Vegetarian American Values, Environmentalist American Values, Losing My Job Due To Corporate Greed and Outsourcing American Values, Losing My home Due to Criminal Conduct in the Mortgage Industry American Values, Living on the Street Due to Our Failed Mental Health System American Values? See where I’m going? In fact, it’s fortunate that Jews, Christians, and Muslims all share the same God because they can share the same American Values thereby fostering peace and goodwill for one and all. [heh heh heh]
[While doing a little research for this blog I found the following link. It gave me a headache:]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations
So here is the short list of my American Values. Each one has a sub part but for this post I’ll stick to the core.
First and foremost, take care of my family.
Second, honor my country and when someone tries to screw it up or messes with our Bill of Rights or our Constitution–stop them [power of the pen].
Third, keep prejudice, hate, and intolerance out of my life.
Fourth, respect all non-spiritual and spiritual belief systems, supernatural or otherwise.
Fifth, work hard, maintain a simple lifestyle, and tread lightly through the environment.
Sixth, obey the laws of the land.
Seventh, practice civility.
Eighth, educate myself to prevent saying or doing stupid things.
Ninth, review this list daily.
Tenth, each morning chant my mantra: “I’m not better than you are.”
I guess there are many more but mostly when it comes to American Values the true meaning is that we are a country of free thoughts and ideas, freedom to come and go as we like, free to say what we want, when we want, where we want, free to live how we want. We can do that under God, if we choose to, and we can pick any God we want including a God with thousands of interpretations to suit our needs some of which are scary (Jim Jones comes to mind). We just have to follow our laws. For those who don’t it just means they do not have values. They actually do think they are better than everyone else because they can just run around breaking laws.
We are the land of the free, and the home of the brave. One for all and all for one. Oh, wait. That last part is from the Three Musketeers. It’s French. Les Trois Mousquetaires, by Alexandre Dumas. But I like it. It fits so well for Americans. I have to add that to my personal American Values when I finish this. Whew! (By the way, we should say they are our North American Values and not Central American Values or South American Values; right? I mean, which American Values are we talking about? Now I’m confused again because we aren’t the only “Americans” in this part of the world. More correctly, then, we should say “United States of America Values.” Gee, I thought I had it all figured out.)
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Sharon, We might not agree on everything but I like the fact you think outside the (conformed American box)…TRACK
P.S. Is it alright for me to send this to my friends and family?
Absolutely. I love when I see your responses. Even if we don’t agree we put effort into our thinking! Takes one to know one.
I agree with Track …you got some of the how American came to be a little romanticized ..the Native American , didn’t think smart people landed here , as well as ,many were let our of prison and sent here ….the land was not’acquired’ it was stolen and much blood shed ….but be that as it is not in our regular text books .
Many of us have been mis-educated.You came out with a very good list for what an American should be …Thanks.
Oh, I’m glad you liked them. I think all nations educate children with a little pizazz otherwide our kids might grow up depressed! However, at some point in our lives we need to upgrade that early education and spend time researching how things work in the world. Sometimes we learn from experience but often we need to do a little digging. Thank you for responding. I love hearing from you and from TRACK.
I agree with much of what you said and appreciate the thought, honesty and sincerity you put into this post. I like your emphasis on civility. I’ve noticed that civility is lacking almost everywhere now….why is that? I have my own ideas, but I am interested in knowing yours. MM
Sometimes when I’m upset with someone out in the world, usually a customer service issue, I feel my temper coming and I have to remember that it’s just a simple transaction gone wrong and not worth being nasty to someone trying to make a living. Sometimes it’s hard because customer service is so poor and we endure it so often but I keep trying to reason with unreasonable people in a calm way. Don’t know if it works but maybe I won’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I think we live with too much stress and it makes everyone a bit edgy. I know I’m edgier than I’ve ever been but I try to control it. Along with a loss of basic civility there’s an increase in hate. Tough times I guess. What are your ideas? Share!
I love this thread. I too agree that civility is a endangered value. I deal with incivilty by becoming more and more polite. Most people, sorry to say, can’t hadle that, and I hopel that no negative energy is added to the mix.
I also would like to add that something needs to be done about the ‘dumbing down’ of the population of this country. But have no idea where to begin, except in the schools, but that won’t help the adults now.
Thoughts? Commentary? Ideas? Open to all.
Oh, that’s a scary topic for sure. I’m eager to see what you come up with. I’m so glad my kids are grown and I don’t have small ones starting out in school now. But many of us on VN now have grandkids so the worry about education continues. I was disappointed with my kids’ education but I tried to add important content at home. I encouraged them to read and think and be open and they turned out to be thoughtful adults. They had shocking writing skills and study skills and it hurt them in college but over time they figured it all out. Both still suffer from math phobia and yet they are very bright. My son has actually started studying basic math on his own and plans to continue as far as he can go. He doesn’t need to but he feels it’s a huge part of his education that was glossed over in school. He just wants to be better. Please let us know when you figure it all out for a post.
Something certainly does, Rose. And it has to start with the adults first, because once children grow up and settle down into their middle years to raise children, they reach for the lifestyle that provided them with the most safety. And that is usually of the adult who raised them.
This is the biggest reason we need to keep church and state separate, because so many churches emphasize faith over reason and logic. Once we have a majority of citizens that believe “All you really need is …(Jesus, Allah, Jehovah, The Goddess, Krishna, Isis, etc)… to live happily, and that the pursuit of wisdom is not really necessary,” you now have country that slowly falls into ignorance, and becomes easily manipulated and conquered by outside forces.
We also need to relearn respect for those who have acquired knowledge and skills as a priority over socioeconomic status. When you have a country that believes a successful life is measured by the material gain one has acquired, we begin to care only for that which will keep us upwardly mobile. All other values get thrown out with the bathwater.
And most of all we need to uphold the value of the position of early childhood caretakers. The first three years are such a critical window in a persons development that much of what we are as adults is based on the sequence of events and relationships during that time. This a neurological fact. Those three years can never be “undone” – only adjusted, or maladjusted to. By changing the emphasis on how we care for our young children, we could literally change the world 20 years from now. But to change that, we need to change ourselves first.
OMG! Sharon! You expressed my own feelings so eloquently.
I have wanted to tackle this subject for SO long, but found myself getting so angry and frustrated by the middle, that I just could not put it out in a way that explained it as clearly, without stirring strong negative feelings in so many readers.
Thank you SO much!
Thank YOU! Some of these are very hard to write so the first time I write them they are usually not fit for print. After I think about it for a few days I can come to a sensible way to describe my feelings. You know, sort of count to 10. heh heh heh
You put my feelings into words so well. And your synopsis of the USA’s founding is spot on. Your values are too. Amen and THANK YOU!!!
And thank YOU! I’m so glad to find so many people who are of the same mind, at least in some respects!!!!!!
Sharon, thank you. Beautifully said. I love your American Values. they are mine too I just couldn’t express them so eloquently:). I need to read those values daily too to remind myself that is the way I try to live my life.
Hi Sharon,
What a great article to read. Thank you for taking the time to put your thoughts together. These are the values of many people and you helped put them out there for all of us.
Your article is also a great example of why VN needs to maintain the blogs. There are women right here that will be quoted on the net by others who find your article on VN – helping them make a case for ideas that they discuss on other forums.
Thanks!