Space Available
By Lawrence Webb, Emeritus Professor of Journalism
Anderson College, Anderson, SC
College dorm rooms often have assorted placards and signs, a mixture of the serious and frivolous. A suite I shared at Hardin-Simmons University long ago with two other freshmen had a religious message next to a sign, which had been filched from a parking lot. A fellow student came to our room, looked around, and read the two signs aloud as if there were one:
"Only one life, `twill soon be past,
Only what`s done for Christ will last.
Park here."
Similar incongruities sprouted on billboards and marquees after September 11th.
A hamburger chain had a facsimile of the American flag just below the company name. Under the flag were these words: "Satisfy your craving. Bacon, Mushroom Melt."
Wow! Show you are a loyal American by eating a Whopper with bacon, mushrooms, and cheese.
That same company had another sign at Christmas. The flag was still there, but with this statement: "Jesus is the Reason for the Season."
A respectful reminder: there is no direct connection between patriotism and Jesus and eating burgers.
A gas station had these two statements that read like one: "God Bless the U.S.A. Cigarettes as Low as 99 Cents a Pack."
This is not the first time commercialism has been wrapped in Old Glory. For years, car dealerships have been festooned with flags by the dozen. While it is certainly appropriate for a merchant to express loyalty to country, there is no obvious connection between patriotism and eating a hamburger or smoking a cigarette or buying a car. The car dealership with the flags may be sending a mixed signal, since so many cars sold in this country were manufactured overseas.
Yet another message appeared on a sign in front of a small shopping center. A couple of merchants had their advertisements in the lower strips, but not all the slots were rented. To encourage others to advertise, the ad agency put a message below the religio-patriotic message. When the messages were read in continuous flow, the effect was as follows:
"In God We Trust.
United We Stand.
Space Available."
With this sign, I saw a positive reminder: As we declare, " In God We Trust," we should leave space for all who care to join us. Not all Americans trust in God. Among those who do trust in God, there are many different apprehensions of God. While sincere believers cannot endorse competing understandings of God, we must endorse our fellow human beings who follow other paths. We must insist that they be able to take advantage of "Space Available" with the same freedom we enjoy in our space.
Current suspicion of all things Arabic and all things Islamic recalls a similar attitude toward German-Americans in World War One and toward Japanese-Americans in World War Two.
In the First World War, everything German was suspect. For example, in Wisconsin and other states with large German-American settlements, many school systems stopped teaching German as a foreign language. People of German ancestry were pressured to buy war bonds and make large contributions to the Red Cross to prove their patriotism, under the threat of being tarred and feathered if they refused. Lutheran congregations, which historically had conducted services in German, were forced to forsake their heart language and have their services in English.
In World War Two, some 110,000 people of Japanese ancestry (including seventy thousand U.S. citizens) were rounded up and forced to live in barbed wire and machine gun-enforced camps. Their only crime was their Japanese heritage.
In the wake of September 11, life-long Americans lost their jobs and felt other discrimination because they were Arabic or were thought to be Arabic. Some even lost their lives as over-zealous Americans were offended by their clothing or skin color.
Osama bin Laden, the presumed mastermind of the attack, is an Arab and a Muslim. Thus, we condemn all Arabs and all Muslims. We need to remind ourselves that not all Arabs are Muslims and not all Muslims are Arabs. We also need to remember violent Muslims are no more representatives of all Muslims than murderous church members represent all Christians. The analogy has often been made that it would be as logical to identify all professing Christians with Timothy McVeigh, who was executed for the Oklahoma City bombing, as to identify all Muslims and Arabs with those who destroyed the Twin Towers.
"In God We Trust. United We Stand."
Those are wonderful words. But our unity has always been unity amid diversity. Under the Stars and Stripes, Americans of all stripes have insisted on defining patriotism and unity on their own terms.
Within a week`s time, in the aftermath of September 11, I received the same email message from two different people, halfway across the continent from each other. The bottom line was, "You are entitled to freedom of speech as long as your speech agrees with mine and you say nothing critical about our country." The article concluded with this bit of in-your-face advice:
"Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion about our government, culture, or society, and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining. . . .I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom, the right to leave . . . ."
That ultimatum raises several questions:
Who are the "we" who say, "we will allow you every opportunity" to express your opinion? No group has the right to tell you, in the words of the old song, "Hit the road, Jack, and don`t you come back no more!"
Why should you be invited to leave this country because you express displeasure with aspects of government? Why is it unpatriotic to criticize our government leaders? "My country, right or wrong" is an unthinking slogan. "Love it or leave it" is arrogant.
Where is a person supposed to go? The first advice may be, "Go to the devil." A second suggestion will probably be the country currently considered the worst place on earth-Germany or Japan in World War Two, the Soviet Union in the Cold War, Afghanistan in the war on terrorism.
As Americans, most of us stand united in love for our country, though not always in how we express that love. Sometimes deep affection leads to a lover`s quarrel.
Another sign from my college in Abilene, Texas: One of the janitors on campus had this message on his pickup: "You are welcome to Abilene, but come in quiet." Those who equate disagreement with disloyalty are often noisy as they tell others to be quiet. If we seek to silence those who disagree with us when we are in the majority, we should realize this is a two-edged sword that can cut against us when our viewpoint is not in the ascendancy.
The Golden Rule applies here: "Grant unto others the same freedom of expression you would want granted unto you." Love for our country, respect for one another, and especially our love for God, should enable us to hang out the "Space Available" sign, welcoming those with whom we disagree.
