I apologize if this has been posted before, but this is the first time I've seen it:
Americans
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week,
but there was actually a report that someone in
Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a
reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.
So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let
everyone know what an American is, so they would know
when they found one:
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 to 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 a least 30 other countries,
cultures, and first 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 modern 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.
Pass this around the World...on the American Internet, I might add.
