Modern conservatives are using the term 'American exceptionalism' to describe their belief that the United States stands out from the rest of the world and has a unique role in our collective history. The Washington Post published a series from the On Faith blog about this belief, what it really means, and the effects it could have around the world, asking 'Is America blessed?'
In one of the series of posts, Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Institute questions whether this sense of 'exceptionalism' has led to a superiority and sense that this gives America (and Americans) a kind of 'divine hall-pass' that allows us to stand above (not up to) moral standards to which the rest of the world is held. I have felt that this is the problem with the direction of the conservative movement in the US in recent years. The mentality that 'It's ok when I do it, because it's me, but you can't do the same' is no way to conduct a life, a business or a government. When it comes to social issues, it seems that conservatives will speak out against those who support gay marriage or religions other than Christianity, but when other groups do the same, their rights are not honored in the same way. The right to free speech does not apply only when it is speech of a certain kind. What would these same people do if their words and ideas were stopped or contradicted by another group because it was seen as indecent by someone else. Would American conservatives have changed an exhibit at the Smithsonian if a gay-rights group demanded it? Doubtful. When it comes to foreign policy, it is OK for America to go about the world invading and forcing our beliefs on other countries, but no one thinks of what it does to those invaded. What would we do if we were invaded? Would we just allow that foreign power to overpower us and would we accept their ways of life and laws, regardless of their contradicting our own traditions? Of course not. Do not all countries have their own right to stand up for themselves in the faces of such things? What gives America this divine right of superiority? Jones cites early writers from the American Revolution and our early history as calling America divinely endowed, but I was under the impression that divine honors should come from the divine, not from man. President Obama has been under fire from the right because of his comment that he believes America is exceptional in the same way that Britons believe in British exceptionalism and Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I agree. I don't understand how we can go about saying that we're better than everyone else. I love America and I know how blessed I am to have been born here, but I think we should also understand that other countries in the world about which people feel the same. So what if they do not hold to the same beliefs and traditions that we do, but their people hold to those beliefs because they value and love the same. (Find Jones's piece here: http://ow.ly/3jJZG) There are also links to the other pieces in the series on this page. Comments are closed.
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Carrie:-2010 Westminster College grad Archives
January 2015
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