LETTER TO THE EDITOR: With age comes uncertainty about our country

The older I get, the less sure I become of many things. I used to believe that my country could do no wrong, that we were a nation of truth tellers and that God just simply liked us more than He liked other people … and that we rather deserved His special affection. I learned that our Founding Fathers were almost superhuman and to be virtually worshiped, men who never got really angry with one another, were never guilty of manipulative scheming, and always planned, made decisions and acted with no hint of selfishness or shortsightedness. Then, I grew up.

My first introduction to the humanness of our America came during the Eisenhower administration. It was during the Cold War, and we knew that Russia was spying on us in various ways. The Russians accused us of spying on them, through the use of high altitude planes, specially equipped with cameras capable of taking pictures of military installations on Russian soil. Our president publically denied that charge, and we wanted to believe he was telling us the truth. Then, the Russians shot down one of our spy planes. The pilot, Gary Powers, bailed out and was taken prisoner by the Russians.

President Eisenhower, in order to, hopefully, get Powers released, went on television and finally told the truth, which he could not, of course, any longer deny. The Russians released Gary Powers, in good condition, and for a time, anyway, there was a new and more adult understanding of who we were and needed to be in the world of nations. Fantasy and blind hero-worship gave way, to some extent, to realism.

I began reading more, about our history with Cuba, and with the Philippines, with Hawaii, and Iran during the days of the Shah, and with our own Native Americans, our “Indians”. And, although I continued to be glad that I was an American, I began to be not always proud of being an American. And, I began to be more evaluating of our leaders, both Democrats and Republicans, and wanting more for us as a nation to be a cooperating part of the community of other countries. I wanted us to stop simply preaching to other people how great we are and to start listening to them, to their understanding of human affairs, to their needs and their ideas, their ways of doing things, their strengths and their gifts and contributions.

Therefore, I become concerned and saddened when I hear and read the extent to which many of our citizens are led to attack other citizens as being un-American, un-Godly, and dangerous, when the reasons for their attacks seem to be rooted in a very narrow understanding of who we are and are supposed to be. Before anything else, we are first of all human beings, before geography, before political party, before personal histories and ancestry. Perhaps we need a bit more quietness and reflection, more humility and desire to learn, and the willingness to see one another with “softer eyes” and a childlike curiosity toward our neighbor. Maybe?

Robert L. Stevens
Timmonsville