Grow up, Americans!

Seriously, Americans. What is this infatuation you have with your founding fathers?

Whenever Americans from the right of the political spectrum (which, btw, is far right compared to normal countries*) insist that America is a Christian country, they turn to the founding fathers to prove their point. And when Americans from the left of the spectrum (why is quite far to the right compared to normal countries**) counter that it is not, then they too turn to the Constitution. Fair enough, you might say. It is the law, after all (at least the Constitution is, which says nothing about America being a Christian nation: We The People ring a bell?). However, it is the law as written centuries ago. Newsflash: it is outdated.

Last night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart interviewed David Barton about whether America is a Christian nation.

See it here:



Should we*** have prayer be in school? Whenever Americans discuss whether we are a Christian nation, they always look to their dear founding fathers. Of course, they can't agree on what they meant, which makes it extra ridiculous. But the really stupid part is that it is so infantile.

It's infantile because America and Americans have changed, so what the founding fathers said is outdated. It's immature because when discussing how things should be, arguing over what your parents thought they should be really should be beside the point.

Instead, we should be talking about how things should be today based on what the current conditions are. Take guns. Back then it made a lot of sense to write into law that a militia should be allowed to carry guns. The threat from governments was real, and guns weren't used to kill schoolchildren. Today, there is no threat from the government, despite conspiracy theories originating on the stupid right side of the political aisle. And guns aren't muskets that take minutes to load, but things that the British could have won the war with had they had just five men armed with them. And they are used mainly for killing schoolchildren. So, allowing everybody to buy guns is stupid, so the freaking Constitution needs to be changed. It is outdated.

Completely ignoring the notorious discussion about many of the founding fathers not really being religious, letting your forefathers dictate how you should live centuries hence is puerile. It's tantamount to tradition. Eeew! Tradition is one of my favorite hating words. Tradition means doing something just because people did so in the past. Tradition is eating lutefisk because your parents did it. Tradition means not thinking for yourself. Which is something Americans excel at.

Time to grow up, Americans!

* Yes, normal countries, such as those where people care for each other by paying taxes in order to provide universal health care and the sale of guns are restricted to hunting rifles - for hunters.

** No, we are not talking about communism, you ignorant tools.

*** I say 'we' deliberately. While I am not American myself, I have lived here for most of my adult life, and my children go to school here, so it matters to me, too.