I had an interesting conversation with some new friends of mine on the bus last night. We were on our way home and they're just getting to know me, so they were investigating my background a bit. When I told them I was from Alabama (therefore an American), the conversation almost immediately switched to politics. I mean there was some transition, but not more than a few sentences.
Now, the question that came out was whether I was apologetic to people in Canada about Bush, because we have a mutual friend that is quite apologetic about Bush. Now, truth is, that I'm not altogether happy at all with what has happened in recent years with the presidency in the US. I feel like our president is probably a normal guy for the most part and relatively honest, but for political reasons has chosen to act as if he has got everything under control even though it's obvious that he's got his head stuck in a hornets' nest right now.
For whatever reason though, at the moment that this friend of mine asked me this... I got really preturbed. I told him I didn't see why I needed to go around apologizing for Bush to everybody. At that moment, I felt like the implication being presented was that I should feel apologetic because of my president, even though I'm not in control of everything he does, solely because I'm an American. This thought really, really bugged me. Why should I have to crawl around and lick the boots of every non-American I meet because my president has made some mistakes? That's how I felt. I felt in that moment, whether they meant to make me feel this way or not, demeaned and lowly because I was an American. Not being judged myself necessarily, but I felt as if I was being made responsible for his fowl ups. [Guys, if you're reading this, no hard feelings, I know that wasn't your intention, it's just how I felt.]
So, I've been thinking about this for a little bit now. I personally usually don't like discussing politics, because the discussions never seem to go anywhere, at least in my experience. They usually start with a common sharing of ideas, but as soon as a topic comes up that somebody feels strongly one way about, that's the end of the discussion and it doesn't move anywhere from there. I know that's not always the case. My mind has been changed quite a few times by the wisdom somebody else revealed to me, but I still find that I get more frustrated than anything in those discussions. Anyway, that was a side-track... but the question in my mind, is should I feel personally responsible as an American citizen for the actions of my nation?
As a Christian, I do feel responsible to be apologetic to non-Christians for some of the stupid crap Christians do and that has been a source of healing for them. So, in that context, I guess this is a good thing. Then again, I've also seen myself apologizing for things that I really don't need to apologize for. I would find myself conceding that Christians have just screwed up on everything for the sake of making somebody feel better about me as a Christian instead of whether they were really confronted with any real truth about themselves. That bugs me a bit.
I think in the end, my thoughts lead me to say that as an American, I am responsible to an extent for how my country conducts itself, even though the thought of being brought to accounts on that bothered me a lot last night. My friends were probably right to perhaps expect me to say something for how my president, who I voted into office, is running things. I don't think that means I need to take Old Glory to a stomping match everytime that I meet a new non-american. I believe that I need speak up for a lot of the great and wonderful things that my country is doing as well. However, I do think that I can be more sensitive then I was last night. It's always been my tendency to rear up whenever I feel like somebody is imposing a responsibility upon me that I don't want (not a very Christ-like attitude).
What do you all think Americans? Do you feel the need to apologize to everybody for the Bush administration? Or do you feel that people are so focused on what America does wrong that they fail to see the good as well? Do you feel you should be personally responsible? Do you feel demeaned or thought less of when people find out your an American? Canadians, what do you think? Other? :)... Leave a comment by clicking the "comments" link below.
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