UI – Part 491 (1) – Culture Clash (Part 1 of 2)

Cultural ID’s

“Flags count and so do other symbols of cultural identity, including crosses, crescents, and even head coverings, because culture counts, and cultural identity is what is most meaningful to most people.”The Clash of Civilizations and Remaking the World Order, by Samuel P. Huntington, 1996, (49/1666), Simon & Schuster, NY, NY.

Culture differences clearly exist in the World.  Consider Islam.  In the areas of the globe dominated by Islam, the populations predominantly Muslim, cultures are significantly different from those in Europe, the United States, and the Americas.  Similarly Japanese and Chinese cultures are unique unto themselves.  Hindu cultures, Buddhist cultures, communist cultures are not aligned.  Trying to put multiple cultures under one tent is an ideal, but most likely impossible. Where democracy survives is unique to where Islam survives.  Democracy has never worked in the Muslim world.  The Soviet Union, a mix of various cultures, failed in 1992.  In 1994 Islamic flags, of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, were raised in Sarajevo identifying Sarajevans with the Muslim world as their real friends (not the UN, NATO or America).

Free Nations Diluted

If there is a concern it is the infiltration of free nations by incompatible cultures which are then allowed to grow.  Conflicts then arise between identifying factions which leads to chaos.  Changes that take place may not be those as ever considered by the founders of those countries.  Consider the Constitution of the United States.  The broad definition of religion today has raised serious concerns over elements whose principles and practices are not as humane as contemplated, or as provided by the Bible.  The Bible at the time of the writing of the Constitution was the basis for many as to ethical and moral standards, as well as equality of citizens, as fully considered by the Founders.

Over time pockets of leaders emerge from other cultures intent on the imposition of their ideals on the territories that have been invaded. Barnacles attach to the ship of state, difficult to remove, slowing or altering its course.  Unless those whose loyalties lie with the flag, the culture, and the origins of a Nation, over time a new and different environment will overwhelm the current.  Like a poisonous gas flowing in clouds over the landscape, only those properly masked will survive.  Who will be prepared?  Who will emerge victorious?  Who will clean the ships bottom, make the proper course correction and regain the speed that once was?

America as an example has had many new religions crop up, with and without God, to include  Mormonism, Islamism, Satanism, Wiccanism, along with humanists and atheists, diluting and altering the Christian way of thinking.  Once Bible based the secular, sans God, contingents have grown and created confusion as to the values our leaders are to support and encourage.  The Islamic influence of Sharia, totally incompatible with the Constitution, have advocates, many with little understanding of Islam, that support a growing Islamic cultural invasion.  The freedom of religion clause is being abused when the foundations of the Nation are being undermined by factions from without and within.  Many political actors are blinded by their own ambitions and desire for power.  They play to the identity groups without a full regard for divisions that may occur.  It is the Democrats I find most ardent in their approach to achieve more of what they desire than what the Nation requires or needs.

Established nations educate the children in the history of their homeland.  They have heroes and leaders than helped form the basis and character of a nation.  Stories told, lives lost, sacrifices made focus on those whose love of country rose above individual wants.  A unity of effort glorified the elements that made the borders a reminder to others of what is possible, achieved and available for those living inside. The flag, the motto, the national anthem, and colors give the people strength and the esprit to stand up for the laws they have made common to all.  If freedom is a part of the nation, an escape from totalitarian, authoritarian, and repressive governments, then the beacon that shines invites others to do for themselves, within their borders, what was accomplished elsewhere, not just try to emigrate.

But in many cases it is easier to escape than to change, to fight the system of control by the few, to sponsor a revolution, or to make a new world order of freedom and equality rise up in a confined nation of oppression and inequality.  The risks may be too great.  It is simpler, as many Muslims have discovered, to hop in a boat and float across a sea and take refuge in open and free countries, like the EU.

The Invaders

“People identify themselves in terms of ancestry, religion, language, history, values, customs, and institutions.” (Huntington, 57/1666)  When the baggage they bring to a new host country is filled with the past, and never allowed to meld into the new order, as the number of arrivals from the same cultures grow, remain isolated, they begin to reshape the host.  When the past culture is replete with inhumane practices, barbaric punishments for lesser crimes, vigilante justice, foreign to the new, there will be problems,  We are experiencing such problems in the Unites States.  So too is Great Britain, France, and many European countries.  As the numbers increase with few adopting the laws of the host, the turmoil will continue and the landscape will change.  If the change brought greater freedoms and equality, male and female, that would be one thing.  But if the change brings honor killing, rape, hatred for other religions and members of the opposite sex, along with a disregard for the local rule of law, the magnitude of discord and divisiveness among the citizenry will be great. Xenophobia is understandable.

Nationalism

“We know who we are only when we know who we are not and often only when we know whom we are against.” (Huntington, 57/1666)  Citizens of a Nation, born and raised, knowing the history, certainly the language, and respectful of the form of government and rule of law, as loyal residents, come of love and want to protect their homeland.  A free government makes that more realistic than an oppressive government.  Not all nations have citizens that love their nations enough to die for them.  Many want to escape.  A problem for America has been there are more people from throughout the world that want to emigrate to the United States knowing the freedom, the opportunity, the safety and the life that is possible as a citizen.  America could never accommodate the vast numbers, in billions, that would love to live here. My suggestion to the many that seek what America offers, try to emulate what America provides in your local community, state or country.

History

The message to Americans is demand history be taught, the history of America, its founders, its principles, its success and its freedom.  Teach why and what we love, live for and are willing to die for.  Remind students of the opportunities that exist in this Country in which they were blessed to be born, or blessed to have legally immigrated and become citizens. Instill in our children just what makes America great and how we are different. Open the minds of our youth to being objective in their thinking, respectful of others, willing to protect our ideals, and wanting to strive to achieve and be a productive member of our society.

The true oddity are the Americans, born and raised, that lack respect for what they have.  They expect too much, and understand too little.  They are more for ‘self’ than for others.  There are far too many that are generally unaware of the history of our nation, the intent of the founders, the influence of God on those that drafted the most open and welcoming plan for a Nation, and see the government mostly as a provider.  If they do not love their Nation there are many others that might open their doors and greet them.  Let them become citizens of a land more acceptable to the standards and wants they consider right for them.

“Unless we hate what we are not, we cannot love what we are.” (Huntington, 50/1666)

Second part to follow in two days.

Grace and Peace