What does it mean to be a good, upstanding American citizen? When I was growing up, going to college and even now, I've known people who seem to have given up hope on this issue. I think this is residual from movements like the Hippie movement, the Counter-Culture movement, and so forth. I think these people see their government doing terrible things and think this means they should somehow, at least figuratively, leave America behind and fight for some other cause. With all due respect to these expatriates, I would argue that now, more than ever, we need good, upstanding Americans who truly believe in American values to stand up, speak up and fight for the nation we love.
So, what does it mean to be a good American citizen? I think we must first start with core American values. What makes a nation like America is more than just a list of laws. We take pride in being better than the monarchies of the world, than the oligarchies of the world, than the theocracies of the world and the tyrannies of the world.
Here is my answer to what I think American values are: On American Values
I'd argue that being a good, upstanding American citizen is both easier than the expatriates I've known seem to think, but also harder than many "main stream" Americans seem to think. It's easier than the expatriates seem to think because, I'd argue, one can be a good American without being "ultra-normal". It's harder than many "main stream" Americans seem to think, because my notion of being a good American involves a lot of work.
First, it is not only true that a good American can be of any religion. Whatever religion you adhere to (or none at all) is a good religion for you, as an American, to be. Whether you're Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, an adherent of a Native American Religion, Wiccan, Zoroastrian or Pastafarian, you've done exactly what you're supposed to do if you're American: you've decided, as an adult, which religion makes sense to you and followed that. Whether you've kept the religion you were raised with or found a new one, you've made an adult decision, as an American, and you're being a good, upstanding American citizen by adhering to that religion. In fact, if you're a member of a non-main-stream religion, you're being a good American by challenging your fellow Americans to respect your freedom. They need to be challenged. They need to remember that even somebody's a religious minority, they still require the same respect for their decision to be a member of their religion as, say, a Christian deserves.
The only instances in which I'd argue that somebody's being a bad American because of their religion are either when they're trying to legislate their religious beliefs or when their religious practices are non-peaceable, such as performing human sacrifice or something. As Americans, we do have a responsibility to respect other people's freedom of religion and the wall of separation of Church and State. (See my essay "On Christian Extremism".) Oh, and no human sacrifices. If you're doing those, I'm calling the police!
Second, if you speak your mind about your political views, whether by speaking, writing, petitioning the government or peacefully assembling, you're a good, upstanding American Citizen, provided you're views uphold the government and rights specified in the Constitution. This is true whether you're a Democrat, a Republican, a Libertarian, or a member of the Green Party. It's even true if you're a Communist, provided you don't try to foment a Communist revolution. Personally, I'm a Captitalist, so I'll disagree with your politics, but as long as what "Communist" means to you is simply electing Communist representatives, Senators, Presidents and so forth within our current system of government, that's still American, because this is a democracy and we have our First Amendment rights.
Third, if you own a gun or other weapons, as long as you only use them for lawful purposes, you're being a good, American citizen, because you're ready to defend our streets from either, say, an invasion from without or a dictator taking over in a military coup. Such a dictator will have trouble keeping us down, if every house his or her soldiers and gustapos burst into has people with guns in it. (Obviously, if it's illegal, like a nunchuck, we can argue about whether that law is a good American law, but don't keep any illegal weapons around until the law has been lifted, okay?! Just petition the government to lift the law!)
On the other hand, if you feel you don't trust yourself to bear arms, and you don't bear any, that's good. Also, if you're religion requires pacifism or has a pacifist path, sect, creed or denomination within it, you're being a good American by going without a weapon, because you're following your religious beliefs.
I could go on, down the list of American freedoms, but I think that point should be pretty clear by now. Instead, let me get on to what I think is harder than many "main stream" Americans seem to think. That is that you have a duty do everything reasonably in your power to uphold our national values and promote your political views (within the parameters set out in the Constitution, of course, so no shouting fire in a room full of people from a political party you don't like!). Now, many "main stream" Americans do affirm serving in the military as a form of patriotism, but I maintain that that's only one way to serve. In fact, I'd argue that military service is empty unless you think for yourself about American values and promote your political ideals. Citizenship requires of us that we write letters to our papers, that we sign petitions, that we march and that we write our representatives. It requires of us that we get involved. Above all, it requires of us that we vote.
It requires questioning our government. During the George W. Bush administration, Republicans kept saying that we should "trust" the President. Poppy cock! Monarchies require their subjects to trust the king, oligarchies their aristocrats and theocracies their priests. But, this is America. Anybody who tells you that you should trust the government or a representative within the government is un-American! Good Americans should always question and always probe. It's a government of the People, by the People and for the People. It's our government. Our representatives, all the way up to the President, work for us! Question them always!
Good American citizenship also requires of us that we make the best political decisions we can. This means that we should endeavor to be well educated. There are many paths to education formal and informal. Even a high school dropout can educate his or her self using the public library or a community college. Before we come up with political convictions and make political moves, we should educate ourselves on the issues. Above all, we should think for ourselves! Anybody who votes a certain way or espouses a certain view just because the herd does, is un-American! Real Americans think for themselves!
In conclusion, lots of people of many religions, creeds and philospophies can be good Americans, but we all must work hard to do our part, however small. Our leaders would be sunk if it wasn't for their grass-roots volunteers, their petition signers, the people writing letters to their newspapers, and so forth. Our Founders pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor to founding this great nation. I call on all Americans, including myself, to pledge the same to preserve its greatness!
The Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution
Copyright © 2010 Ivan Richmond. All rights reserved worldwide.