Part 2: We stand on guard for thee

As a matter of fact, I’ve been around many of your various United States. It’s a very nice country - quaint, really - and I’ve travelled a fair bit elsewhere, too. So, you might say that I know a thing or two about a thing or two.

I'm in Atlanta now and it’s warm here, which is certainly nice for a frozen Canuck like me (you know that’s what we Canadians call ourselves, eh?).

Giving credit where credit is due

By the way, it annoys me to no end when people in other countries constantly put you guys down. After all, who else in the world goes around trying to spread freedom, good will and prosperity?

Most nations have enough trouble with their own problems and don’t want to be bothered helping others (with the exception of Canada, naturally). Of course, it would be nice if y’all didn’t expect everybody else to behave just like you, but that’s a topic of conversation best saved for another day.

To be sure, other western countries have done their part, too … but none as consistently as this one. There is a palpable sense of pride in this strong military tradition and in those who have so valiantly served.

I can relate to that - my dad was a spy for the Allies in the Second World War. So, although I’ve never served myself, I’ve always tried to live up to the inspiring role model that he provided. In a way, that’s what Americans do as a nation.

Compassion

When asked recently, “What is the best religion?” the Dalai Lama responded:

“The best religion is the one that gets you closer to God. It is the one that makes you a better person. Whatever makes you more compassionate, more sensible, more detached, more loving, more humanitarian, more responsible, more ethical. The religion that will do that for you is the best religion.”

We can’t make everyone the same as us, but we can lead by example – we can insist that people everywhere treat each other with respect and kindness. Since establishing itself as a world power, America has sometimes suffered from an exaggerated sense of its own self importance.

Thus it has acquired a reputation for arrogance. This ia an attitude which causes Americans to feel hurt and surprised, since this country has diligently strived to ensure that ethical guidelines are set and respected throughout the world.

Indeed, there is no better example of this than the way in which this country behaved following victory in the last world war.

A national example of how to be magnanimous

When much of the developed world lay in ruins, America could have been pompous and exploited its advantage, which was gained partly due to being geographically remote and thus isolated from the fighting. Instead, this country spawned the Marshall Plan, a very generous financial package that was designed to bring everybody back to a “level playing field”.

Sure, it could be argued that this was necessary to sustain the domestic economy, by ensuring the existence of viable trading partners. The same people will argue that the West liberated Kuwait and Kosovo out of self-interest. Tell that to the people who were freed by these actions, which were initially inspired by America.

Ultimately others have since carried the ball in this game, as witnessed by the way that France and Britain spearheaded the recent efforts to oust Ghaddafi in Libya.  The perceived success or failure of these missions is not really what matters – rather, the true point is the inspiration to do good, to lead the way by example and to walk in the path if God.

Mahatma Ghandi did it. Nelson Mandela did it. Countless others have sacrificed their lives and limbs in the name of freedom. Soldiers from America, Canada and other nations are now gradually returning from Afghanistan, after a bitter ten-year battle against terrorism.

Regardless of what ultimately happens to that nation of perpetual strife, we are compelled to honour the courage, discipline and determination of our armed forces. The world is watching and we must honour the traditions that shaped us as freedom-loving people.

Consider the Canadian national anthem, which includes the following powerful and inspiring line “We stand on guard for thee - God keep our land glorious and free”. It seems like we can all do with a little more of that spirit, eh?

   

Rise up and show the way

Your nation is hurting, Atlanta. In recent history, America has often been down, but never out. Many people in the rest of the world love to see America fall and, each time that it happens, some of them gleefully hope that she will never rise again.

You know better - your country always bounces back.

Yet each time, someone needs to lead the way. Maybe this time you can serve as that inspiration to your nation. Show them what America is made of - faith, tolerance, courage, humility, discipline and determination.

    

Part 1: Welcome to Atlanta - please park your spaceship at the door

I’m a newcomer here and a foreigner in this place. In fact, according to the CBP, the DHS and any other official acronyms concerned with such things, I’m considered an “alien”.

Just so you know - where I come from, that is a term reserved exclusively for folks who hail from another planet. Yet I’ve been so warmly received in Atlanta that I tend to forget about my presumed extra-terrestrial origins.

Indeed, there seems to be something very special about Atlanta. Sure, the weather is warm here, as everybody will tell you before you even finish saying hello. Yet it’s the people here who demonstrate a level of warmth that may be unparalleled in my own experience.

So, here’s the thing - although people in America are very diverse, it may just be that Atlanta typifies what makes your country great.

No, seriously.

Yes, I know … now you want to ask, “Why would you say that?”

It’s a valid enough question, given that Atlanta is in the South and thus tends to be associated elsewhere with stereotypes that are typical of this region. Well, guess what - there’s nothing stereotypical about Atlanta. 

Apparently nobody is actually from here

People who live here are quick to tell you that “nobody is actually from Atlanta”. Okay, granted that may come as somewhat of a surprise (especially to those of you who were born here), but you get the idea - it’s a city that is largely populated by people who came from elsewhere.

That, in fact, may be the key to what has transformed this city from a sleepy stereotype into a dynamic and robust archetype.

You see, I grew up in Montreal, the child of immigrants from Europe. Most second generation Montrealers of that era learned to speak both French and English, in addition to the language of their parents. It was a remarkable environment, which bred mutual understanding and tolerance.

Eventually I moved to Toronto for a few years, where I raised my own family. Did you know that it is now the most cosmopolitan city in the world? Like Atlanta, until the seventies it was quite homogenous - but then it was hit by a wave of immigrants that transformed it forever.

People came from everywhere and created cultural pockets, much like the storied boroughs of New York. And yet … while Toronto remained relatively clean and crime free (in that nice, uniquely Canadian way), it never acquired the warmth and charm for which Montreal has become famous.

Since it had been a city with a rather cold demeanour to begin with, it would seem that transforming it into a cosmopolitan Mecca did not succeed in changing this fundamental aspect of its character.

Mixing southern hospitality with an influx of immigrants

Enter Atlanta.

What happens when you mix traditional southern hospitality with an influx of new blood from around the world? Something very special, apparently - and that is the point of this article.

Perhaps more than anything else, Atlanta is a city of worshippers. The sheer number of churches lining the streets is incredible. Methodist, Baptist, Catholic - you name it, they are all represented.

Of course, there are other faiths as well and one gets the impression that everyone is welcome in Atlanta - as long as they respect their neighbours. Actually, Canadians generally live that way, too. We’re polite as hell and fiercely defend everyone’s right to self determination … but just don’t get us annoyed.

Yet it seems clear that Christianity is the backbone of Atlanta. As a foreigner, when you visit a church here you begin to get a sense of what makes America great. You start to understand why Americans have historically sent their youth to fight foreign wars, even if they were sometimes dragged into them reluctantly.

Bearing witness to your faith

So, perhaps the secret to your strength is something that the people of Atlanta do without even thinking about - you bear witness to your faith, in the way that you live your everyday lives (and take your daily bread). While many other Americans certainly do this also, it seems to be a way of life here.

At work, at play, at home, in the church - regardless of whether people succeed or fail, it’s the norm here to at least try to walk in the path of righteousness. Apparently this is not an exception - it’s the rule.  

That doesn’t necessarily mean living like a monk or abstaining from any kind of fun. Neither does it mean frowning upon others who are different. It doesn’t even mean mingling only with your own kind, as some cultures tend to do (including my own native Quebec, which unlike the days of my youth, has become somewhat xenophobic lately).

Humility and tolerance

What it does seem to mean is learning to humbly walk in the path of God, whatever that may entail. Different creeds may have different interpretations of that maxim, but usually it involves living by some version of the Ten Commandments … and that’s a pretty good starting point for anyone, right?

To my surprise, race no longer seems to be the elephant in the room here. I heard it put very nicely in a recent Sunday school class for adults (who else does that, anyway?) - when it comes to their slave-owning ancestors, the people of Atlanta seem to have understood “the error of their ways”. That kind of humility may be a key to uncovering the clues to this remarkable society.

In my own case, for a long time I was married to a lovely Canadian woman of Haitian descent, with coffee coloured skin. We travelled extensively and sometimes encountered racism, but not in Atlanta.

Here it is common to see ethnically mixed couples and nobody even seems to notice. Not so in New York, by the way - the only place in our travels where I actually felt uncomfortable about the antagonism towards us.       

This great city once rose up like a Phoenix from the ashes and grew again to achieve prosperity. Now you can show your brothers and sisters across the nation how this noble country can rise up and once more become a beacon of light, to show the way for the rest of the world.