Posted by parhad (158.252.215.108) on October 07, 2001 at 10:07:35:
I get the feeling sometimes that most Christians think of kindness, love, forgiveness, honesty, clean streets, hot water...that all of these are exclusively "Christian" things. Just as Americans seem to think love of country, of family, of peace, of full stomachs, job security, healthy children...of joy at weddings and graduations or grief at funerals and hospitals... 0f a desire for revenge or outrage, a love of justice and fair play, are all AMERICAN things.
When you put the two together, that is make Americans Christians...you produce a being who feels that all these qualities are THEIRS...exist nowhere else and apply to no other people. If to be Christian is to be good...then to be non-Christian is to be "not-good". If being American means you value truth and justice...then to be "not-American", means to be against these "American" values.
It's simplistic I know but do you see any mental giants around here and in our community?