“America is the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed. That creed is set forth with dogmatic and even theological lucidity in the Declaration of Independence; perhaps the only piece of practical politics that is also theoretical politics and also great literature. It enunciates that all men are equal in their claim to justice, that governments exist to give them that justice, and that their authority is for that reason just. It certainly does condemn anarchism, and it does also by inference condemn atheism, since it clearly names the Creator as the ultimate authority from whom these equal rights are derived. Nobody expects a modern political system to proceed logically in the application of such dogmas, and in the matter of God and Government it is naturally God whose claim is taken more lightly. The point is that there is a creed, if not about divine, at least about human things.” ― G.K. Chesterton, What I Saw in America
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that you can come to and become a full part of that country. You can move to America from anywhere in the world and become an American. You become an American. You don’t have to wait for your children to become Americans, while you remain an outsider, or your grandchildren to become accepted as Americans while you and your children are considered outsiders. All you have to do is adopt the American creed in your heart.
That cannot happen in Japan, or Germany, or China, or Saudi Arabia. No matter how long you or your descendants live there you will not be members of the tribe, especially if you look “different.” (There are people in Germany today whose grandparents or great-grandparents came there in the late 1940s from Turkey, whose children and grandchildren lived in Germany all of their lives who are still considered Turkish, not German.) Not in America.
My grandparents came to this country from Greece, not speaking the language and practicing a religion different than that of mainstream America. By the time they died they considered themselves American. They adopted that creed. My parents were raised with that creed. One grandfather earned his citizenship by serving in the 36th Infantry in WWI. He was wounded in action, but never prouder of his service for his country — America. My father and my uncles all served in the American armed forces in World War II and Korea, to uphold that creed.
I have seen that story repeated thousands of time in my life through the many acquaintances and co-workers I have known. They came to this country and became Americans.
I have no fear of those who come to the United States legally, assimilate and become Americans because they wish to be part of that creed Chesterton talks about. Even in this century they form part of the backbone of this nation.
God bless that creed. God bless America. God bless the USA.
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