People have always called the United States of America a melting pot. It’s a country and society made up of many different cultures and peoples and we’re all supposed to be extremely proud of that fact. Yet, all we ever read about in the news are people who seem to hate other kinds of people and lives instead of celebrating them.
Last July, a Hindu chaplain sponsored by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, opened up a session of the Senate with a Hindu prayer, invoking the earth, sky, and spirits. Then he proceeded to get pelted by fruit by Christian activists screaming that Satan had been let loose upon the senate floor.
A society is defined as a grouping of individuals, characterized by common interests, and may have distinctive culture and institutions. And America’s common interests are supposed to be the fact that we are all truly individuals with our own beliefs and goals. That’s why it’s called the land of the free because we’re supposed to be free to believe what we want. We don’t have to love each other, but we at the very least have to tolerate each other. That’s what makes us civilized. That’s what makes us a true society.
I understand that there are dark chapters in American history. Slavery in particular is a huge black eye, not to mention that even when all the slaves were freed Jim Crow laws were passed to make them second-class citizens. The Klu Klux Klan ran roughshod over the South for years and still exercise a lot of power in certain regions to this day. And, of course, racism and various other types of discrimination will probably always exist. But working out the kinks is a necessary part of growing up for any society.
Generally speaking, the belief was that since the dark ages civilization and society have been on the upswing, at least until the Holocaust, which many consider the lowest point in human development. By after that, civilization and society began progressing again. Humankind should be at its peak right now. And since the United States of America is the world’s sole superpower and most powerful country, it should be the best example of humankind.
Yet, here we have Americans chasing other Americans off the floor of a house of government because they have different beliefs and a different concept of God. What kind of society is this? Isn’t embracing differences supposed to be what America is all about? The first amendment even states that there should be freedom of religion and of belief, not to mention separation of church and state, which is for the good of all churches and organized religions. If the state controlled any religion, then that would be the only one in all the land.
If American society matched the definition of society exactly, it wouldn’t be much of one. If you thinks are difficult now, imagine how hard it would be to live with everybody else if we were all the same.