9.04.2009

Social and Cultural Ignorance

Today I was reading the Facebook site for the local paper...where I work. The circulation manager had posed a simple question: "How do you feel about President Obama addressing your children in school?" Now, knowing that President Bush did this same thing, you would think that no one would have much to say, right? Wrong. There are comments that make my skin crawl. One particular woman began by stating "this president is surrounding himself with self-proclaimed communists." and continued by saying,"He wants to be friends with dictators, terrorists and Muslims...and he ignored our National Day of Prayer. And now he wants to speak directly to our kids. Sound familiar?" Wow...that was all I could think...wow. Dictators and terrorists I could probably get behind..but then she tossed in the whole of the Muslim faith and my mind came to a screeching halt.

People like this make Americans look ignorant and biased. She proudly and emphatically states that she is a Christian, and yet her views seem to be anything but. In a later comment, she tells us that we are a "Christian Nation"...not legally or anything, but just the same. She seems to believe that all of the founding fathers were Christians who intended this country to be based on and run by Christian doctrine. Did I miss that day in history class?

It amazes me that people are so threatened by President Obama and what he may be able to accomplish given time that they take to attacking him this way. I may not agree with everything his administration has done thus far, but I believe change takes time and nothing is ever accomplished without compromise. If the President could just step in, make the changes and have it done, I'm sure he would. Our political system is flawed and doesn't work that way. Instead of attacking the President, maybe we should think about fixing a terribly broken system.