Politics, Religion, Greed, Ignorance

In a way, I'm not surprised that we're in this situation that we're in over in the Middle East. We come from a country of arrogance, where enough is not enough, and where the vast majority of people grow up taking things for granted and lacking the understanding that not all of the world works the same way we do. Not that there aren't these problems in any other society, but we are a supposedly advanced and progressive society and should be held above the rest of the world's standards. It's kind of like being a supporter of human rights and then abusing prisoners in federal custody. Yea.

I believe it's a combination of politics, religion, greed, and just plain ignorance. People who are overly political or overly religious are so caught up in their beliefs that they fail to grasp the concept that not everyone believes in their God or their Ideals. As for greed and ignorance, I'm not sure whether it's already present and predisposes people to adopt their beliefs, or if their beliefs lead to greed and ignorance. Hmm... Sadly enough, I think the leader of our country is perhaps guilty of all. In fact I recall reading something about how God helped him in his decision to invade Iraq. How a conservative Christian can use this as justification for invading an area of the World well known to be majority Muslim, I'm not sure.

I understand the concept of liberation, and that the freedom of oppressed people falls on the shoulders of the strong, but it needs to be considered that some people don't want to be "liberated", at least not on our terms. Here in America we supposedly have the freedom to worship whatever God we want, and we accept democracy because we've been born into it. Because this is standard here, it doesn't mean that it's our duty to enforce this elsewhere, although history might tell another story.

I can see why people hate America. We have a tendency to be contradictory, disrepspectful, and ignorant. Don't get me wrong, I do not dislike America. Every day that goes by, and the more I learn and try to understand the way the World works, the more I am grateful that I was born an American. I agree with what We stand for, but I don't agree with many of the current goings on. I won't go into more specific details, but there are plenty.

I recently overheard someone who is a former US Marine make reference to "towelies" and "red dots". In the past I've heard the same person talk about "ni@@ers". And I know this is the attitude of a least some military people. Is this who we want representing America in a foreign land? I've heard people who say we should just go over to Iraq and bomb them. What?!? It just boggles my mind that people are this stupid, and that's why it doesn't shock me that we're in the current situation, and why people across the world hate us. If I was in their shoes, I probably would too.