The term “American Exceptionalism” doesn’t mean – at least it shouldn’t mean – that everything about our nation is good, or that everything she has ever accomplished is laudable. No, composed of human beings as she has been and is, America has exhibited her share of shortcomings, some of them quite reprehensible.
But … but …
If one bothers to pay attention to this nation, to her history, her founding ideals, so much of what she has contributed to the course of world events; if one looks at America in contrast to what has unfolded and still is unfolding in other regions of the globe — yeah, there’s something exceptional about this land. Don’t just take my word for it. Col. John Eidsmoe makes the case …
Today we frequently hear that term in the media and academia, sometimes derisively, seldom defined. It refers to the belief that there is something special about America, something that makes America different from, and perhaps better than, other nations. Americans of older generations have grown up believing America is the greatest, the best, the wisest, and the kindest of all nations, and as Commodore Stephen Decatur said in an after-dinner toast,
“Our Country! In her intercourse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but right or wrong, our country!”
What about that? Is America exceptional? Is there anything that makes America special, other than that we live here?
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Read More at: Is America Exceptional?
