Gold City Upon A Hill Or Civil Religion In America
I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I dont know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace ... - Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address to the Nation, Jan. 11, 1989
Who has never watched a news item covering an American president's address? Featuring a white man, standing on the pulpit enchanting the public by using almost sacred words about how America should save this or that country from their dictatorial or communist government. Is America really that gold city upon a hill' the founding fathers had intended it to be? Or are we looking at a chauvinistic, conceited nation that thinks the world of itself? America, seen by non-Americans Among Western democracies, Americans are the people who show the greatest degree of pride in their nationality. A world values survey showed that 70 percent of Americans declared themselves very proud of their nationality. When looked at European countries, less than half of the English, French, German, Danish, or Dutch people felt very proud of their nationality. A 2001 Pew Global Attitudes Survey shows that 79 percent of Americans felt that it was a good thing that American ideas and customs are spreading across the planet. Yet, less than 40 percent of respondents from other Western democracies agreed. Furthermore, less than half even liked American ideas about Democracy. Yet an American Nationalist does not see such opinions as being legitimate. On the contrary, he would probably either accuse them of being French, or anti-American -- and to him, to be anti-American, is to be against universal values'.
People should wonder -- where do these ideas come from? It would be a good thing for us to consider the existence of a "civil religion" in America. This is not just any old religion, but...
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