Great experience while protesting last night
In my town the Women In Black hold a vigil every Friday night. I do not have the discipline to keep a silent vigil so I stand by the road near the silent protestors and hold a sign. We are there for an hour.
Last night was unique because there was a military band there. Their concert started right after our protest. I decided to stay. While there I talked to a few friends and milled in and around the crowd while carrying my sign which says, "Telling lies that start wars is a sin." Then I met a German couple who were visiting the US...
At first they asked me to explain my sign. Their English was a little rusty but we could talk fine. They were visiting the US for a few weeks. He was a history professor and she was an artist. They were around 50 years old. Our discussion focused on two topics, religion and similarities between Nazi Germany and the US today.
First they asked if most Americans are religious, after all the USA is one nation under God. I explained that only thirty to forty percent of Americans are "active" in their faith. Other facts I related were: About thirty percent of Americans classify themselves as Evangelical or born again Christians. Eighty percent of the born again Christians support Bush. Most of the BACs think America and Americans are "special" to God.
These were the common elements we found:
Germany - Master Race
America - Most Blessed Nation on Earth, Christian Nation
Germany - Mythology mixed with faith.
America - Mythologized history mixed with faith.
Germany - Religious devotion to Hitler
America - Religious devotion to Bush
Germany - Supermen above the law
America - We are in war on terrorism and spreading democracy, the hell with the Geneva Convention, The Constitution etc. etc.
Germany - Media as tool of the state.
America - Media as tool of the state.
Germany - Large portion of the Church tool of the state
America - Large portion of the Church tool of the state
Germany - Revocation of civil rights
America - Patriot Act, NSA spying, supper database
The similarities are frightening. Even scarier was the thought that you would not need a Gestapo if you had a database of everyone's communications, bank records, travel, etc. etc. Europeans specifically Germans and especially East Germans would never tolerate that sort of thing. That led us to a discussion of the differences between European Christian and American Christians
Flags in Churches, US almost all, Europe almost none
Patriotism intertwined with faith, US almost all, Europe almost none.
Distain for war, US almost none, Europe almost all
Why were we so different after WWII? The answer is that for the US, WWII was an excursion. None of our cities were bombed. None were occupied. We were not ruled by a dictator. We did not see millions of civilians die. We did not send our Jews to be slaughtered. Not so for Europe. With the exception of Britain and the neutrals, all fell into the hands of tyranny; some from both the Nazis and the Communists after them. That explains why Europeans are so diligent to safe guard their privacy and American are so lax. We don't know or at least do not know yet what tyranny is.
The band played on.
As the concert got to God Bless America and God bless the USA. I said goodbye to my German friends with a new appreciation of what this antiwar movement is all about. There is much more than the fate of Iraq in the balance. The antiwar movement is a fight between the Bush-Chaney-Rumsfeld neocon government and the enlightened citizens of this land to see if government by the people, for the people, and of the people can long endure.
As I walked though the crowd I could sense that I was disturbing many of their warm fuzzes and patriotic spirit. Thank God.