If there are any conservative readers left who would be willing to make the case, could you please explain why it is acceptable for Republicans to trumpet American Exceptionalism?
I began my voting career registered as a Republican and remained so for several years. I am frustrated by our hubris as a country. I can not think of anything as a moderate that would drive me away from the Republican Party as quickly as an unashamed, unqualified and unapologetic embrace of the American Exceptionalism.
I appreciate many great things about our country. I think we have made unique contributions to the world. I think we should hold the greatest generation in great honor for thier sacrifice for the sake of Europe in WWII. I think our relatively low tax system, strong entrepreneurial spirit, substantially superior college level education and superior access to capital make us one of the most prosperous nations that has ever existed. I understand why people would want to come here. I appreciate our position as a model of democracy. I appreciate our tolerance for religious pluralism.
Still, when I hear people like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh unapologetically make the claim, "These people just don't get American Exceptionalism," I am left contemplating how we would have responded to this in the Expatriate Community I lived in for two years in Japan. I assure you the responses would not have been affirming.
It is the most internationally tone deaf assertion I can recall in years.
How, might I ask is this different from Jingoism which webster defines as: extreme chauvinism or nationalism marked especially by a belligerent foreign policy.
I've been a politically moderate Christian for quite some time. This is the first time I've switched to voting Democratic. My mom and mother-in-law plead with me, asking me if I've gone crazy because I'm voting for that "terrorist supporting, evil muslim, black guy who is going to take all of our money away and give it to all of those people on welfare."
Yeah, I know. Direct quote.
One of the things that drew me to Obama (besides his stance on technology issues — net neutrality, among others) was that whereas McCain, Romney, Huckabee, and Thompson were all about taking shots at the Democrats, but Obama didn't play that game.
Now, of course, all bets seem to be off. But the accusations, hate, and lies coming out of the ultra-right wing "Christian" groups is outright astounding to me. It almost makes me say "who are those people?"
My mom hates it when I tell her that Jesus was a liberal. :)
Is it not strange that people speak of their Christian political values in one breath and breath hatred in the next? Who would Jesus hate?
I think this issue opens an interesting discussion of what it means to be patriotic. What I love about America is that at its root are the ideas of dialogue, debate, and self-critique. I'm concerned that a certain type of American Exceptionalism doesn't question our nation, or rather, sees the "true" nation as one that upholds only a certain ideology. Sarah Palin said on Sunday, in response to a heckler, that her son was "fighting for the freedoms that person is exercising." I hope all Americans can understand that not all criticism is meant to tear down. Much of it, in fact, is meant to call us back to our ideals or to call us to something better. It seems to me we must negotiate the extremes of self-hatred on the one hand and jingoism on the other hand. G.K. Chesterton had this to say in his book
Orthodoxy:
I venture to say that what is bad in the candid friend is simply that he is not candid. He is keeping something back -- his own gloomy pleasure in saying unpleasant things. He has a secret desire to hurt, not merely to help... But there is an anti-patriot who honestly angers honest men, and the explanation of him is, I think, what I have suggested: he is the uncandid candid friend; the man who says, "I am sorry to say we are ruined," and is not sorry at all....
What is the evil of the man commonly called an optimist? Obviously, it is felt that the optimist, wishing to defend the honour of this world, will defend the indefensible. He is the jingo of the universe; he will say, "My cosmos, right or wrong." He will be less inclined to the reform of things; more inclined to a sort of front-bench official answer to all attacks, soothing every one with assurances. He will not wash the world, but whitewash the world.
I love this country for many of the same reasons you outlined Bill, and by no means do I find it perfect. That is why I love that reform is built into the heart of our system. Similarly, I greatly appreciate the special contributions our nation has made to the world, but that shouldn't negate the contributions of other nations as well. It should cost me nothing to say America has done good things and so has (insert other nation).
I think the Daily Show offered an interesting insight into this issue when their "reporters" asked Republican Convention Delegates to explain what small town values were. It is really a complicated and abstract question, and the people were really bad at answering it. They mostly weren't prepared to articulate it. One woman said something that on the face of it made no sense, but it points to the underlying topic. She said, I can tell you around our kitchen table we talk about how great America is. As she spoke it, it sounded as if she were applying a generality "the greatness of America" to a specific like a topic of conversation and was not succeeding.
The point, though, is that they value "how great America is." It is something like patriotism, but I think it is more than dedication to country.
When I traveled in Cambodia, I was informed that the Khmer people, the native cultural and ethnic group of Cambodia, were convinced that they were the greatest people in the world. This despite the fact that they had no culture - everything from dance to hand art was destroyed by the Khmer Ruge. They had no economy, no assets, nothing that could mark them as a great people, and yet, their superiority as a race was not negotiable.
This is my point. Human beings want to believe that their in-group is superior to every other. That is fundamentally sinful. It is the root of great evil. To the degree that we give in to this fundamental brokenness of the human condition, we fail to honor God who made all people in his image.
It is good to be proud of what God has accomplished through us as individuals and as communities and societies. In addition, we should soberly think of ourselves as no better, nor no worse than we are. To the degree that we indulge our broken desire to assert ourselves as superior to others, we are at fault and outside of the will of God.
