Why I, as an atheist wish I heard god bless America more often.

    The title seems very different from what you would expect from an atheist. We hear reports from the right about how none of the democratic debates had American flags on stage. We hear Progressives such as Bill DeBlasio ask questions like “When was America ever great?” and as disheartening as that is to hear, no one can deny America has had tremendous growing pains. The sentiment coming from the left seems to be that America is trash, the ideas, the principles, the foundations and philosophy are all rotten and need to be thrown out. White supremacy is in every facet of daily life, and you can’t help but be a participant if you are white. We see the right speak ill of the left by calling them baby killers and Communists, and often quite accurately, Socialists. The right likes to turn its head to systems that need overhaul, while the left seems to want to just burn it all. This hyperbole has led to the divide many of us feel as we scroll through our social media.

      I think putting perfection aside, something that by definition is impossible to attain, we should still be searching for it in an effort to improve the individual Americans lives. The left and right have always been in direct opposition, one that has helped keep balance and help maintain certain standards of living even the poorest of us often take for granted. No one says how great it is to live in a small house instead of living in the dirt. No one points out that the poverty line here still puts you above much of the rest of the world. I miss the days where waiving a flag was looked at as a positive thing. I don’t need to buy into your idea of some mythical central planner to acknowledge that America is exceptional in its creation. If a Christian says to me God bless America, I will gladly and happily smile at them and acknowledge what they are really saying. America rocks. One has only to spend time in Iraq or Afghanistan to realize just how truly fortunate anyone of us is to have been born or emigrated here. We have opportunity for success in so many markets. Youtube, an American based company has made many creators very wealthy just for being naturally creative and sharing their opinions with the world. We have seen Instagram models take their piece of the American pie. Entrepreneurship is not only accepted, it’s something that is encouraged. If you are willing to make the sacrifice and work your tail off, with few exceptions the only limit is you.

     To my fellow atheists, we know proof is impossible. Argue your points, speak freely and enjoy the fact that you can. The values of America that allow us to be free and open about our skepticism is the essence of a free country. Yet we often freely accept these truths as so engrained, we quit thinking about it. We tell people that Christmas is offensive. We complain when there is a nativity. Should we be inundated with religious dogmatism at every turn? Absolutely not. But should a Christian family be inundated with vitriol because they continue to believe a virgin gave birth to the messiah? Absolutely not. When a fellow American says to you god bless America, simply smile and acknowledge the sentiment. The sentiment that we are in America, which is pretty dang awesome, and our two understandings of the world around us are protected. That’s pretty exceptional.

     Look no further than Dave Chappelle’s latest effort Sticks and Stones. He said something in his act, unironically, that stuck out to me for only one reason. I never hear anyone approach comedy from the national angle. Dave says “We’re all American’s right?” He doesn’t dismiss the historical and cultural issues we face together as a nation, he simply says “We are all American.” He acknowledges in his own way we are all in this together. We are here and we need to figure this stuff out, as one. Dave Chappelle is Muslim, yet he acknowledges the fact that we are stronger under the title American than we are under whatever intersectional label you choose to lump people into. I don’t want to be seen as just some bearded white dude. I don’t care about that. I am sure Dave wishes growing up he was seen as something other than some black dude. Yet we keep making the distinction instead of realizing it doesn’t matter. Dave is an American, a comic, and someone I would like to have a beer with. That’s where my titles and labels end. Maybe we should all try to simplify the lenses in which we see everything.

     So if we should meet on the street and you tell me “Have a blessed day” or on 4th of July you want to sing God Bless America at the top of your lungs, I’ll be there with you. I understand your sentiment, I know you mean it literally, and I am able to separate the two with an understanding of why you say it. We can be friends and hopefully enjoy the freedom to criticize our ideas without attacking the freedom that allows us to do just that. America is great. So say god bless America and I’ll say damned right because we are fortunate, and that fact is indisputable.