Great writing!

To Kill an American

You may have  missed this in the news, but there was
actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper
an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American, any American.

 So an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an
American is, so they would know when they found one.

An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish,
Polish, Russian or Greek. An American may also be Canadian, Mexican,
African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian,
or Arab, or Pakistani, or Afghan. An American may also be a Cherokee,
Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole or one of the many other
tribes known as Native Americans.
An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Muslim.
In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only
difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them
chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion. For that
he will answer only to God, not to the government, or to armed thugs
claiming to speak for the government and for God.
An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world.
The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of
Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person the
pursuit of happiness.
An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every
other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was
overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and
supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of th! e
morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation
to the poor in Afghanistan.
Americans welcome the best: the best products, the best books, the best
music, the best food, the best athletes. But they also welcome the
least.
The national symbol of America, The Statue of Liberty, welcomes your
tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the
homeless, tempest tossed. These in fact are the people who built
America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of
September 11, 2001 earning a better life for their families. I've been
told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other
countries, cultures, and first languages, including those that aided and
abetted the terrorists.
So you can try to kill an American if you must.

Hitler did. So did General Tojo, and Stalin, and Mao Tse-tung an! d every bloodthirsty tyrant
 in the history of the world. But, in doing so you would just be killing
yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a
particular place, they are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom.
Everyone who holds to that spirit, everywhere, is an American.
Pass this around the World.
Sonoma Valley Community Church (RCA)
181 Chase Street
Sonoma, California 95476