Quote:
Originally Posted by jhas
well, i am a muslim, so thats a pretty common thing i hear.
same with my latino friends.
it is probably more to do with me being in the south
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You have mentioned
Muslim, and
Latino in your post. Latino are, "persons who trace their origin or descent to Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Central and South America, and other Spanish cultures." And Muslim, "relates to a person who follows the religion of Islam".
I was born in America, Houston Texas in the 1960's and adopted into a family. My birth mother is (was) of German descent. (possibly my father too) I was raised in a Baptist Christian home. Like the Latino I can trace my roots to an origin, not of the U.S. and like you I follow a religion.
What does it mean to be a U.S.A citizen? What does it mean to be an American? Those two questions are broad and can be answered in many different ways.
A U.S.A. citizen is a person that is either born in the U.S. or a person who has legally undergone the citizenship requirements and has met the standards to be a U.S. citizen.
The (word) American it generally means
U.S. citizen or national. However, some might say to be an American, of the U.S. there is more to it than how the U.S. government may define it, or a PC group may want us to believe.
In a T.V. show I was viewing once, two characters were having a conversation. One character was played by a white man the other a black man. They were a team that were tasked with going into Nevada to investigate a crime. The white guy said to the black guy (something along these lines), 'you'd be better suited to the climate given your African background.' The black guy said, "I don't know about you, but I was born in L.A."
I've seen that type of dialogue display where as the writer's attempt is to make a rather valid point. I was born here and like the black man born here, I wouldn't have the first clue as to what it would mean to be of German culture and/or climate.
However, I do know what it means to put one's heart into a country. Some people who become U.S. citizens do so and yet they never really leave their country and they carry that idea with them and they wear it on their sleeve. Since people often react to what they see, people tend to make assumptions, without taking in all the facts. One fact being, not every one is like that.
Archeologists have been following the migrations of ancient civilizations and people migrate, that is something that has been an ongoing process. To be accepted in a new place (tribe, state, country) with people who believe in many different things and ways, it takes a lot of work, to gain their trust. There are times it takes more work with some than it does with others and unfortunately there are those that never come around to the ability to trust in any thing.
The reaction that one is not an American, even though (a) they were born here, (b) they have legally gained citizenship status, if their heart is with their country, there also needs to be an understanding.
When a group of citizens gather in a public place waving a symbol (flag) that depicts a country of origin, rather than the country that they have been adopted or born into as a citizen, then the break down in trust should be of no big surprise. (It's global and may depict any country)
If a Christian goes into a Muslim community and wishes to pass himself off as a Muslim, that person better do their home work, if they are to be believed.
I viewed a video, (wish I could find it's link) of a woman that was born and raised in Germany whose parents migrated there from another country. She appeared to be in her late 40's, early 50's. Even though she was born in Germany and raised there, citizenship status that depicts German as her country of origin is a new development. Along with that, will also come in time with the rest of the German community's acceptance that, she is German.
Rejection of people is common and it does not depict one place in particular, but comes from the world as a whole and it is based on array of reasons, justifiable only in one's own mind and heart.
PS: I believe we are people first, before God and country.