UN-AMERICAN?
On the subject of the prison atrocities in Abu Ghraib, the comments with the most emotional charge seem to be the ones condemning such abuses as "un-American." The patriots, who have taken the high ground in calling the war on terrorism the kind of fight for liberty that the US stands for, have expressed moral indignation that this small minority of prison guards and military officials would do something so base.
Whether or not you find the words of Bush and Rumsfeld inspiring or hypocritical, I want to call attention to the concept of degradation as un-American. On the one hand, we are a nation that stands for dignity and against barbarism. I am proud to be an American because I believe it means I stand for things greater than myself. I am proud of America because it stands for the right things, its national DNA encoded by documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Gettysburg Address.
But there is a difference between what is American in an ideal sense and what is American in a historical sense. Historically, America has had its dark moments. The 19th century, a century of progress and industrialism in the US, was largely built on the backs of Chinese, Mexican, and Irish laborers. Black people by the millions were enslaved and in most instances violently kept in place by their masters. Parade Magazine, a paragon of friendly, non-threatening medical advice, uplifting personal stories, and celebrity gossip, ran on its cover today the story of the massacre at Wounded Knee, just one of many instances of white Americans murdering native American men, women, and children.
And let's not just limit our spotlight to the past. Institutional abuse goes on today in our prisons, hospitals, and mental institutions. The legacy of slavery in America continues on, in the form of savage inequalities in schools, police brutality, and other blatant as well as subtle forms of racism against African-Americans. And almost 100 years after Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle," we can still find unsafe work conditions in our food manufacturing and processing plants.
I personally do not argue with people who say that the prison abuse in Iraq is un-American, because such atrocities are indeed unlike the ideals America believes in and fights for. But let's be clear here: just as we Christians desire to be without sin but must admit that we sin, so we Americans ought to desire to be morally righteous in our treatment of others but also admit that we too are guilty of the vilest of deeds. The Bible does not forbid us from judging, but rather from judging without adequately judging first ourselves. And so we ought to continue to fight against human rights violations around the world, even as we are realizing that we are among the violators.
On the subject of the prison atrocities in Abu Ghraib, the comments with the most emotional charge seem to be the ones condemning such abuses as "un-American." The patriots, who have taken the high ground in calling the war on terrorism the kind of fight for liberty that the US stands for, have expressed moral indignation that this small minority of prison guards and military officials would do something so base.
Whether or not you find the words of Bush and Rumsfeld inspiring or hypocritical, I want to call attention to the concept of degradation as un-American. On the one hand, we are a nation that stands for dignity and against barbarism. I am proud to be an American because I believe it means I stand for things greater than myself. I am proud of America because it stands for the right things, its national DNA encoded by documents such as the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights, and the Gettysburg Address.
But there is a difference between what is American in an ideal sense and what is American in a historical sense. Historically, America has had its dark moments. The 19th century, a century of progress and industrialism in the US, was largely built on the backs of Chinese, Mexican, and Irish laborers. Black people by the millions were enslaved and in most instances violently kept in place by their masters. Parade Magazine, a paragon of friendly, non-threatening medical advice, uplifting personal stories, and celebrity gossip, ran on its cover today the story of the massacre at Wounded Knee, just one of many instances of white Americans murdering native American men, women, and children.
And let's not just limit our spotlight to the past. Institutional abuse goes on today in our prisons, hospitals, and mental institutions. The legacy of slavery in America continues on, in the form of savage inequalities in schools, police brutality, and other blatant as well as subtle forms of racism against African-Americans. And almost 100 years after Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle," we can still find unsafe work conditions in our food manufacturing and processing plants.
I personally do not argue with people who say that the prison abuse in Iraq is un-American, because such atrocities are indeed unlike the ideals America believes in and fights for. But let's be clear here: just as we Christians desire to be without sin but must admit that we sin, so we Americans ought to desire to be morally righteous in our treatment of others but also admit that we too are guilty of the vilest of deeds. The Bible does not forbid us from judging, but rather from judging without adequately judging first ourselves. And so we ought to continue to fight against human rights violations around the world, even as we are realizing that we are among the violators.
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