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.