This comes from Jim Hake at Spirit of America. Apparently this has been circulating on the internet. He can't verify it's true, but passes it along because it highlights the ideals of America, the personal initiative to try to make things better, something Spirit of America does every day in their work in Afghanistan and Iraq.
To Kill an American
You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was
actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a
newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any
American.
So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what
an American is... so they would know when they found one. (Good on ya,
mate!!!!)
An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish,
Polish, Russian or Greek.
An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese,
Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, or Arab, or Pakistani,
or Afghan.
An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache,
Seminole or one of the many other tribes known as native Americans.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or
Muslim.
In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The
only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of
them chooses.
An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that he will
answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs claiming
to speak for the government and for God.
An American lives in the most prosperous land in the history of the
world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of
Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to
the pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every
other nation in the world in their time of need.
When the Soviet army overran Afghanistan 20 years ago, Americans came
with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country!
As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any
other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.
Americans welcome the best, the best products, the best books, the best
music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the
least!
The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your
tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the
homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built
America.
Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September
11, 2001, earning a better life for their families. I've been told
that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other
countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided
and abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must.
Hitler did.
So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-Tung, and every
bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world.
But, in doing so you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans
are not a particular people from a particular place. They are the
embodiment of the human spirit of freedom. Everyone who holds to that
spirit, everywhere, is an American.
Author unknown
Pass this around the World
Update: Corrected Iran to Iraq.
Update II: Rats! Normally I check Snopes whenever anyone sends me a story by e-mail. (I'm always returning things to let people know whatever e-mail they forwarded is a hoax.) I suppose because of the source, this time I didn't. Aelfheld did and discovered:
The "What is an American?" article quoted above was not penned by an Australian (or a dentist), but by Peter Ferrara, an associate professor of law at the George Mason University School of Law in Northern Virginia.
Mr. Ferrara's commentary was originally published in the National Review on25 September 2001.
I don't know where my head was at that the "I can't confirm" part didn't send me off to investigate, but thanks to Aelfheld for catching it.
I adore snopes.com.
Posted by: aelfheld | August 15, 2005 at 08:02 PM