While watching the events of the last few days involving the Iraqi prisoners, one theme persists. That this is not who we are. This is not a reflection of American values. That these perpertrators are the exceptions and not reflective of our culture. No looking at the U.S from the outside, what would one see? Homosexuality, child abuse, violent murder, divorce, pornography, abortion, racism, greed, materialism, pride, envy, all kinds of hedonism, false religion, war mongering, and on and on and on and on… Who are we kidding?

-- Anonymous, May 07, 2004

Answers

I agree that the recent atrocities were horrendous, however the sins of a few do not reflect the values of all Americans. It creates a bad example, however we hope the many positive images about american people can also be noticed by those outside the U.S. It may be equally unfair to list divorce among such violent issues as homo- sexuality, violent mrder, etc., hedonism, and the like. Many are divorced beyond their control, and Christ gave a stipulation in St. Matt. 5:31,32 in response to an inquiry by the religious leaders of that day, to imply if divorce cannot be avoided, make sure that it is not for a trivial reason but one accepted within the law. I believe as a nation we have a lot to improve on to be the kind of nation God approves of and we must pray for our nation, pray for the sins of our nation, and pray for one another.

-- Anonymous, May 19, 2004

You are no doubt correct that we have a lot to improve on. My complaint in this case is that we as a nation are far from the ideal that we like to think it is. I live here and I've seen worse done to a man stopped by the police than what I saw in the pictures of the "atrocities." If we take true measure of ourselves, we might find that our regimes are brutal, our monarchy cruel, and our culture decadent. I know one is not expected to say such things out loud what with political correctness and all (in this climate the FBI might begin an investigation), but hey - who are we kidding?

-- Anonymous, May 19, 2004