I’m having an internal struggle. Part of me wants to help people see the ugly side of American history, not in an attempt to make people look down on the U.S., but to move them toward a more balanced view of history. However, I also know that can be counterproductive; at some point the dissonance between this information and what we’ve always believed becomes so great that we reject both the message and the messenger. I can deal with personal rejection, but if the message goes unheard as well, then what’s the point?

For now, I’ll choose a more prudent course and relay information that others have presented. On Monday, I referenced Richard Hughes’ Myths America Lives By. He presents and debunks five myths that a large portion of our population accepts to some degree. These are the myths of the Chosen Nation, of Nature’s Nation, of the Christian Nation, of the Millennial Nation, and of the Innocent Nation.

• The myth of the Chosen Nation. This goes back to the time of the Puritans, who envisioned themselves as modern-day Israelites journeying to the Promised Land. Others took that myth further, feeling the need to conquer this modern day Canaan as their spiritual ancestors had done in Palestine. Those who bought into this myth felt a moral license to do what needed to be done to oppress and subjugate non-Christian peoples.
• The myth of Nature’s Nation. This myth sees the American way as the natural way. Men were intended to live in liberty, having freedom to do as they wished. Democracy and capitalism were God’s design from the beginning. No real justification needs to be presented, for the rightness of these ideas is self-evident. As Hughes says, this belief “might suggest that whatever foreign policies America might put in place are by definition just and right, regardless of their impact on marginalized people, and that the rectitude of those policies should be self-evident to all the people of the world” (p. 193).
• The myth of the Christian Nation. Hughes argues that the intention of the founding fathers was to create a secular state, within which people could practice (or not) the religion they chose. Hughes admits that the belief in a Christian nation can be good when it calls us to live out Judeo-Christian morals, but it can be bad if it leads the nation to believe itself entitled by God to certain privileges.
• The myth of the Millenial Nation. Originally, this myth was a belief that the United States was ushering in a new order which would culminate in the thousand year reign of Christ on this earth. With this nation being Nature’s Nation and a Christian Nation, there was an obligation to spread the American way to other peoples, by example or by force. Most are familiar with the concept of Manifest Destiny, the idea that the United States was entitled to take over the North American continent… and the South American continent as well, many felt.
• The myth of the Innocent Nation. Belief in the above myths lead people to believe that the America is pure and just and her enemies are evil. The 20th Century convinced Americans that they were in a struggle for survival against evil forces that sought her destruction, be it the Axis powers, the Communists or the terrorists. In the end, it’s a struggle between those who love good and those who hate it. Holding to this myth left Americans unable and unwilling to see any motives behind the 9/11 attacks except those of evil people wanting to kill good people.

A lot of what I’m wanting to look at these days is presented very eloquently in Hughes’ book. I know that I once held to most if not all of these myths, and I know the comfort found in clinging to them. I also know they are short-sighted views of the world, sustainable only by those who refuse to concede any value to other nations. We’ve got to get past this ethnocentric world view, coming to terms with both the good and the bad of every country.