This morning, against my better judgment, I was listening to a program on National Public Radio (NPR) and they were discussing American Exceptionalism.  They had a guest speaker discussing the dangers of viewing one’s self as being greater than others.  This man was a British guest that I cannot remember his name.  He pointed out that Americans have begun to see themselves as better than others.  I was not surprised to have the guest point out this being a Republican policy dating back as far as Ronald Reagan and continuing through the current president George W. Bush.  I would expect nothing less from this source being that NPR is a bastion of liberal apologetics.  I do agree that announcing to the world that you are better than everyone else is not good policy.  It is my opinion that Mr. Reagan’s proclamations to that effect, at the time, was not an attempt at being arrogant but rather an attempt to energize Americans to have confidence. Where I disagreed with him was his lack of acknowledgement that both political parties engage in this attitude.  At least he did admit his sympathy to Democrat policies over the years.  I did agree with his opinion that it is not a good idea to announce to the world that you are better than everyone else.

The current attitude of American supremacy in my opinion has gone too far.  It really troubles me every time I hear someone on television or radio refers to our country as a “super power”.  To me this statement just sounds arrogant to hear.  I am not saying that I think it is wrong to denounce Communism as being wrong.  In this case pointing out a murderous government that denies their people freedom is not boasting that you are the best around.  In that case Ronald Reagan needed to address this because the Soviet Union was growing and conquering nations on a regular basis.  I am very proud of many aspects of our country though we do have some things that are not to be proud of.  Among them are the ways we have treated various racial groups in our own country.  I do not think there is anything wrong with being proud of our country though I do think you can go too far.  Just as it is inappropriate to scream obscenities at a sporting event it is just as inappropriate to announce to the world that we are the “only super power”.  I am both a fiscal and social conservative and it bothers me every time I hear Rush Limbaugh exclaim this to the world.  Sadly this guest on NPR was not completely wrong in this regard.  The Republican Party that I have always clung to has become associated with this in recent days.  Unfortunately the Democrat “ic” party is far worse in many other ways in my eyes.  On many moral issues I cannot support the Democrats.  It seems as though everything that I find that is wrong with the world is supported by that party.  As bad as the Republican party has become, the alternative is even worse.

It would seem that everyone would instinctively know that public boasting is poor taste.  This is just another example of a bigger problem that we have in this world and that is a lack of understanding of what is right and wrong.  People base right and wrong on what the crowd thinks.  If the crowd feels that something is right then most people will follow along.  You may have heard this referred to as moral relativism.  This is what happens when you take religion out of public life.  The lack of having a fundamental standard in which to base morality has left an entire generation with no sense of right and wrong.  Public boasting is wrong period.  It is not acceptable in any circumstance.  Not because it is some sort of political correctness but because God’s word  (Bible) says so.