Bill Sykes' Newsletter
from America.
(March 2003)
An ex-Brit gives his views-(without fear
or favor)---of the American Scene
Have Americans become some of the most hated
people in this world?
 American
people do not deserve to be given blanket coverage as
non-caring, militant people.
We have our faults, as do other nations, and one of them
is naivety when it comes to foreign policy, and the unquestionable
loyalty without dissenting views is another questionable
attribute. But I would like to show you how one anonymous
writer, (purported to be an Australian), expressed his
excellent opinion as to what he envisaged to be an American.
I am therefore going to include his comments verbatim
with the exception of the original title, “To Kill
an American” which I didn’t consider appropriate.
Tribute to the American people!
-
An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish,
German, Spanish, Polish, Russian or Greek. An American
may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese,
Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab,
or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a
Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole
or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
-
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish,
or Buddhist, or Muslim.
-
In fact, there are more Muslims in America than
in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America
they are free to worship as each of them chooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion.
For that he will answer only to God, not to the government,
or to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government
and for God.
-
An American is from the most prosperous land in
the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration
of Independence, which recognizes the God given right
of each person, the pursuit of happiness.
-
An American is generous. Americans have helped out
just about every other nation in the world in their
time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the
Soviet army, 20 years ago, Americans came with arms
and supplies to enable the people to win back their
country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans
had given more than any other nation to the poor in
Afghanistan.
-
Americans welcome the best, the best products, the
best books, the best music, the best food, the best
athletes. But they also welcome the least.
The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty,
welcomes your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse
of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed.
These in fact are the people who built America.
-
Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the
morning of September 11, 2001 earning a better life
for their families. I've been told that the World
Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries,
cultures, and languages, including those that aided
and abetted the terrorists.
-
So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler
did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung,
and every bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the
world. But, in doing so you would just be killing
yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people
from a particular place, they are the embodiment of
the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to
that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
We welcome feedback about any of the contents
of these newsletters. Please send all correspondence to
bill_sykes@huddersfield1.co.uk
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