'Atheists, Go Home!'

Check out this letter to the editor from a woman who wants you to stomp out atheists.

This was published in the Peninsula Clarion (Required registration available at BugMeNot) on January 29, 2007. This country has got some serious problems. How can anyone even suggest something like this? My view is that we have two main problems causing this kind of behavior here in the United States.

The first problem (oh a lot of people are going to hate me for this one) is that we allow too much immigration to our country. That's not what caused this letter, but it's part of the problem. Now don't get me wrong: I wish everyone was an American, and I certainly don't believe we should be Stomping Out Atheists. Unfortunately, letting someone into this country and giving them citizenship doesn't really make them an American. It just makes them a citizen. Having too many citizens with voting rights who aren't really Americans causes the American Government, which is supposed to represent the American People, to represent "just citizens" instead.

The second problem we face is that Americans are not raising their children to become Americans themselves, but instead are just giving birth to automatic citizens. That IS what has happened in this case.

What's the difference between an American and "just a citizen?" Being an American goes beyond color or creed. It's undeniable that the founders of our country were fairly uniform in race and religion, but they did not leave this country to their children, but rather to all Americans. An American understands the ideals that America was founded upon and integrates those ideals into his or her own life. An American actually strives to preserve his own freedoms and recognizes that helping others protect their own freedoms in turn helps to protect his or her own. That doesn't necessarily mean supporting the Iraq war just because we're there; it certainly doesn't mean trying to "force freedom" onto others who aren't willing to fight for it themselves. It means understanding the basic idea that freedom is something that can only be taken and defended, and is not something that can be given or forced. It means understanding that every time you erode someone else's freedoms -- whether by theft, murder, surveillance, wrongful detention, or speaking out against atheists' rights -- you are eroding your own freedom. It means moving beyond being the defended and becoming the defender.

Foreigners arriving in our country come with the belief that America is all about having a gracious government that protects its citizens from harm and "gives them" many freedoms. They come believing they will be protected from evil by living here. They have the idea that being an American means not having to fight every day for your rights because the American government will protect them for you. On a practical level this has some truth to it, but that's only because our government represents 'We, The People' and because right now 'We, The People' means true Americans, and true Americans cause the government to be this way. The day 'We, The People' becomes 'just us citizens', the United States will cease to be the land of the free.

The result of this confusion is that many people are willing to let the government take away some of their freedoms in exchange for an increase in safely. But safety has never been a hallmark of freedom. Rather, being an American or 'free person' anywhere else in the world is one of the most dangerous things you can be. Americans are only generally safer than other free persons because America is kind of like a "free persons union" and defends itself as a whole rather well. Despite that, true Americans get shot standing up to thugs, get beaten up defending the weak, and are reviled by those who want the world to be more uniform. If you are a free person, in some ways you are an American no matter where you live -- you're just not an American citizen. Being a true American means standing up to the Evil in the world and saying, "I will not let you take from me what is mine without a fight." That's dangerous because there is plenty of evil chomping at the bit to start that fight.

Being an American means being willing to die for what is right. Sometimes that means being willing to pick up a gun and kill a violent person who is trying to take away your rights; sometimes it means being a pacifist who sits quietly and refuses to move when someone wrongfully tries to force you to do something. It certainly does not mean cowering behind a gracious government that controls the world's most powerful military.

Not all immigrants and children are "citizens only." Some are raised true Americans, born here or not. Some stumble upon it. The problem is, right now they're in the minority. If we want this country to continue to be the land of the Free, we must not allow our American blood to be diluted by "citizen only" blood. We must educate our children properly and restrict our borders, allowing in only true Americans, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. We must shun those who which to live here only because they fear confrontation and want to live in peace. A love of peace without a willingness to fight for it is little better than a love of evil.

This woman seems to think I should go away because I'm somehow ruining her wonderful nation. She has the right to say that, because she's a citizen of this country. But America isn't about making her life rosy. I'm a free person -- an American -- and I promise you, if she or anyone else like her tries to take atheists' rights away, they'd better be prepared for a fight. All true Americans will be there to confront them on that day, atheist or not.

-- ThoughtKeeper - 20 Feb 2007

Wow, picking up a gun to protect your fellow true americans against the evil outside world wich is trying to take away your freedoms. You must be a real patriot!

America is basically populated by immigrants (except for native americans), althought some families might live in the USA longer than others. therefor it is strange even ironic how you manage to think in terms as 'us' true americans and 'them' foreigners. Sure you Americans will fight for your freedoms, you will not allow any other country then yourself own nuclear weapons. America spends more money on military than it spends on health care. So many people in your country and other countries rot away in dark alleys and you dare to speak about how are willing to defend your freedoms? You know, sometimes i watch 'The O'Reilly factor' and I laugh at it, knowing that so many Amercans actually buy that crap. USA nowadays looks a bit like Th Netherlands an Great Britain in the days they had all the economical power, or like the Roman Empire (I'm not putting Hitlers Germany in there because I hate the Hitler comparisons americans like so much) because of the arrogance and the superior thinking. The superior thinking of the USA is sad, because it has no real history and hardly any future.

Ow btw, I come from Holland (the Netherlands) and I was not high during the typing of my respons. In Dutch (our OWN native language) we haven't got a proper translation for the word 'patriot', well it's probably patriot as well but I'm sure I haven't heard anyone ever use the word. That is the big difference between the USA and the Netherlands in the other hand we use the dutch word for solidarity a lot and I hardly ever heard it come out of an American mouth.

but these were my thoughts on your thoughts.

Eh? No offense, but I don't think you understood what I wrote. Most of the conditions you wrote about are a direct result of the fleecing of average Americans by the government and big business, which is a violation of the rights of those very people you're talking about. I'm not sure how defending the rights of Atheists, the average joe, and American ideals that are being ripped away by our current government amounts hatred of foreigners. My father was an immigrant, and if you'll read what I wrote again carefully, I think you'll see I have nothing against foreigners or immigrants. I only have something against those people that would take away my rights and the rights of others. Oh, and O'reilly is an idiot. -ThoughtKeeper

-- TWikiGuest - 22 Mar 2007

What is it you are trying to say? That the foreigners are the cause that freedoms are being taken away by your government?

I heard that there is no acknowledged atheist in your national congress, that is not a good representation of your country. How comes? is it the voting system?

Also the founding fathers signed a paper saying that your country isn't based on any regilion but your president is actively using religion in his policy and speeches. How comes?

-- TWikiGuest - 24 Mar 2007