Why do Conservatives push these 5 myths ?

Question

MYTH 1: The US was founded on Christian principles.

MYTH 2: US Conservatives tend to be patriotic, ethical Americans; liberals tend to hate America and are immoral.

MYTH 3. The US has a liberal media.

MYTH 4. The US doesn’t need improvement compared to other countries; it is the greatest country in the world.

MYTH 5: The US government loves to help other countries.

Please read this article and give your reasoned opinion.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1033552

Answer 1

Allow me to dispel most of Pach's myths. Many conservatives tend to have such a limited, partial view of things.

Myth #1:
While many Americans were/are Christians, a lot of the founding fathers were NOT. A large minority were Freemasons (Deists), such as George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Hancock, among others.

Why the heck does the back of the $1 bill have a Pyramid on it, with an Eye of Providence above it? No pyramids in America. It's a Freemason symbol. Plus, no Crosses anywhere - only "In God We Trust" - and Deists, of course, believe in Only One God, and no Jesus Christ. Not "In Jesus We Trust," or even "In the Lord We Trust".

Why the separation of Church & State? Why no mention of Jesus Christ (or the Bible) anywhere in the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution? "Life, liberty, & the Pursuit of Happiness" - doesn't sound like anything in the Bible to me.

If they had wanted to found a country on Christian principles, they would have put more Christian principles in it - or even created a Christian theocracy. And although I am religious, I don't want to live under any kind of theocracy, whether it's Christian or Muslim. We need to respect all religions, rather than place 1 above all the rest.

Freemason members who signed the DOI & Constitution:
http://bessel.org/declmas.htm

Myth #2:
According to Pach's definition, patriotism is limited to being a soldier, supporting the troops, waving + wearing flags, and not criticizing the country, government, or political leadership. How quaint and primitive. As if these were the only ways to support & love your country.

This narrow brand of conservative "patriotism" is one of the worst diseases plaguing humankind today. This kind of blind, pro-nationalistic, pro-military "patriotism" constantly threatens world stability & imprisons the US in a state of perpetual war & chaos. When the Germans fought for their country, the Nazis & Hitler, it was "patriotic". When the Communists fought for Russia & Stalin, that was "patriotic" too. Fighting for the Fatherland, the Motherland, or for US "God & Country" on FOREIGN SOIL = blind, brainwashed insanity.

Wars should only be fought in self-defense on the homeland, or on foreign soil for the sake of Justice & Humanitarianism - neither of which, are the motives in Iraq or Afghanistan.

IMO, the better kind of patriotism is Doing Good for Your Country and Trying to Make your Country A Better Place, of which the highest expression is NOT fighting in a desert 12,000 miles away. Firefighters, EMTs, volunteers, NPOs, educators (who truly care about their students), good parents, etc. are all truly "patriotic" in my book.

The best kind of "patriotism" is "World Patriotism" - trying to make the World a Better Place. I'm not sure if many traditional conservatives can grasp that concept, however, let alone support it.

Myth #3:
This myth depends a lot on where you stand on the political spectrum. If you're a right-wing conservative, of course the media looks pretty liberal. But if you're fairly left-wing (like me), the media looks very conservative.

You're almost never going to hear any media stories on any MSM outlet which are: anti-military, anti-corporate welfare, anti-business, pro-labor/pro-union, anti-consumer, anti-capitalist, pro-socialist, anti-globalization, anti-US foreign policy, anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian, pro-Arab, anti-Christian, etc. Or anti-MSM for that matter. No, none of these anti-mainstream perspectives, which are labelled "anti-American", too "radical" or "extremist". Even though many of these views are aired and held in other places of the world.

This of course, explains why most Americans, especially the conservative ones, have no clue why the rest of the world is so anti-American now - and what's worst, they don't even care... and worst of all, see no reason to care. Talk about limited perspective.

So IMO, the US media is definitely "conservative", which is not surprising, since the US is one of the most conservative countries in the Western world.

Myth #5:
Another great example of how Pach & fellow conservatives possess a rather limited view of things, by picking out 1 example of Somalia, and neglecting the big picture of US foreign aid.

US annual foreign aid is about $21 billion per year. Compare that to US military defense spending, which was $430 billion in 2006, not including Iraq/Afghanistan. Now, of that $21 billion, guess who the biggest receipient has been EVERY YEAR since the 1970s????

Israel, which right now takes up nearly $2.5 billion. And #2? Egypt, at $1.8 billion. And right now #3? Pakistan (ally in the "War on Terror". And #4? Colombia (our ally in the "War on Drugs"). Getting the picture of US "foreign aid"?

As you can tell, guess what kind of aid most of it is for.... the military & wars, of course.

And so many conservatives continue to believe the propagandistic horsecrap about the US and "humanitarianism", for which the US spends token millions, compared to the Billions on war.

Conservatives should just be brutally honest & uniform in their political views, and admit to not giving a damn about humanitarian welfare, and not wanting their government to spend their tax dollars on it - either when it comes to domestic welfare aid, or foreign welfare aid. They'd rather spend the money on the military & wars, in the interest of "national security". Better schools & health care? Nah, they'd rather spend it on better missiles & weapons. Any charity should be private - whether at home or abroad.

But war, the military, and the military industrial complex? Sure, no problem - spend away. How truly "Christian".

Basically, we should only give aid when people are starving to death - but when they're only just below the poverty line, forget it. Wait until they're about to starve to death before "giving aid". Truly humanitarianism at its best. By the way, there IS a reason why the words "humanitarian" & "human being" come from the same root of being "human".

Calling a conservative (like Mr. Bush) a humanitarian, is like calling Mother Theresa a conservative. They're at opposite poles of the spectrum, politically & economically. And even religiously - both believe in Jesus, but obviously have very different ways of putting the principles of Jesus into practice. I'm pretty sure that neither Jesus nor Mother Theresa would support $430 billion/year on military spending, and not giving aid (of all kinds) to the poor and less fortunate.

Talk about a country & government based on "Christian" principles, yeah "right".

10 points to Pach and his views? I certainly hope not.

On foreign aid,
Council on Foreign Relations:
http://www.cfr.org/publication/13248/transforming_us_foreign_aid.html
http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/politics/us-foreign-aid.htm

Answer 2

I have watched all 3 major networks and though I am moderate, I have picked up a liberal bias. Fox News tends to have a conservative bias. I have heard Katie Couric make snide comments about conservative candidates while allowing liberal candidates to do the same thing without mention. Many of the founding fathers adopted documents such as the Magna Carta which were based on Judeo-Christian ethic so your 1st point is too broad. Most of the founding fathers were Deists. I agree with you on 2,4, and 5, but have trouble with 1 and 3 because you make too broad a statement where certain areas of what you call a "myth" are indeed true.

Answer 3

MYTH 1: The US WAS founded on Christian PRINCIPLES. There is a difference between priniciples and religious beliefs.

MYTH 2: I am not patriotic. I believe in truth. I am loyal to myself, not my government.

MYTH 3: The media is liberal. Just because they don't tell you so doesn't mean they aren't.

MYTH 4: I think the US needs lots of improvement. It's people ignore the Constitution, which is a HUGE problem.

MYTH 5: That is mostly what our government does is TRY to help other countries.

I am not reading an article from the democraticundergound. You can't give a reasoned opinion on anything that is said there.

Answer 4

1. It was, read the Federalist Papers. They were written by some of the principle founders of the United States.

2. By and large we are patriotic, ethical citizens. By their conduct Liberals have shown that they do indeed hate the United States.

3. It does.

4. While I do agree that the United States is the greatest country in the world. I don't agree that there is not room for improvement. Any creation of man can be improved.

5. It does and so do the people of this country.

Answer 5

I don't need to read the article.

They translate as caring for anyone but the rich as being a liberal.

Those on welfare are undeserving, when most of them are on corporate welfare make 100 to 1000 times more than the poor!

Why is it when they refer to those on welfare, they forget to mention that they are children, who will at some point work, the elderly, who have already worked. and the disabled. They don't tell you that almost 1/2 of those who are homeless have full-time jobs.

They also fail to mention that many on welfare (Medicaid) are their parents, who they transfered the title to their property long ago so they could keep it and we could pay for their parents nureing home bill. Even a Republican Congressman (Edward Brooke) from Mass got caught doing that.

They also fail to mention that they are the party with the most fiscal malfeasance, and people being thrown out of office.

If Clinton was doing what Bush has done, they would have impeached him (while they were in power!!

They don't mention that 1/2 of American families make less than $25,000 a year.

They claim they are the party who is for a smaller government! That's a good one.

They are the party of fiscal responsibility! Now that is a BIG laugh, 3 1/2 TRILLION dollars later!

They are for the troops. That really means they are for corporate welfare as that is where most of the money goes, The troops, 4 years later, still are not equipped!

They are the Hawkish party and the Democrats are wimps! Then who were Woodrow Wilson WW I, FDR WW II, Truman, Korea, and LBJ? None had a (R) after their name!

Democrats cut and run! Name one!

Reagan did in Lebanon and Nixon did in Vietnam!

Answer 6

Weird. But here's a try:
1. What is actually "pushed" is that the US was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. And it's true. The Federalist Papers and other correspondence among the US founders back this up.
2. Each side routinely dismisses the other like this
3. It was very true and is still largely true.
4. Who claims the first part? The second part is true.
5. There is some truth to it; but who actually "pushes" this?

Answer 7

Rick...

The Magna Carta?

Seriously? A conservative American document?

Answer 8

conservatives deal in facts, not myths.
please stop spamming these boards with your propaganda websites.

reported

Answer 9

The better question is, why do I feel compelled to answer questions I have no chance of getting Best Answer for because I won't pander to a questioner whose premise I don't agree with?

Let me dispel most of what that article said.

1) The U.S. was definitely founded on Judeo-Christian principles. Our currency says "In God We Trust", behind the Supreme Court bench is a huge stone relief of the Ten Commandments, our President is sworn in on a bible. And speaking of bibles, until the late 1800s, it was extremely common for bibles to be distributed to every member of Congress, and to this day Congress begins with a prayer. A priest or chaplain has ALWAYS been sent with our troops, dating back to George Washington. In short, as you can plainly see, our country was founded with religious beliefs, and these beliefs have been foisted upon no one. A state-mandated religion is not allowed under the constitution. We have freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion.

2) It has been shown that only 7% of the brave soldiers fighting in Iraq are Liberals. Liberals think patriotism is corny. Conservatives like Ronald Reagan were proud to show love for his country. Show me a typical Liberal who will wear the American flag on his clothing, or proudly sing patriotic songs on the 4th of July. Ha! You can't. Libs don't think that way. They think patriotism is corny and outdated.

3) Here's your biggest fallacy. Over 80% of journalists described THEMSELVES as Liberals. Hence, there was no bias on the part of the survey. Just read the NYT or any major newspaper. Studies have been done showing an incredible liberal bias. For example, the Abu Ghraib incident was given 47 front page headlines (32 of them on consecutive days!), while George Bush's diplomatic coup about getting North Korea to not pursue nukes was relegated to some buried little blurb deep inside the paper. (Just to remind you, Liberals mocked Bush for not accepting N. Korea's demand for bilateral talks with the U.S. Bush refused, knowing North Korea just wanted to wiggle out of pressure from China, Japan, and others. Bush's strategy was proven 100% correct. He got exactly what we wanted, but no front page headline. You don't call that liberal bias????"

4) Myth #4 may have some basis in truth. The U.S. tends to over-emphasize our superiority. However, Bush clearly and forcefully cited the dismal educational progress in the U.S. And what do Libs do when he creates a system to force teachers to actually teach? When he forces schools to meet minimum standards? They attack him.

5) Think of all the countries we have helped out of true humanitarian concern. Somalia is worthless to us, but we help them out. Just look at a list of countries all around the world who get aid every year. Most have absolutely nothing to offer us, but we help. The U.S. government also encourages private organizations to help overseas, such as the Doctors Without Borders program. What about The Peace Corps and others? Even during the height of the Cold War, the U.S. sent aid to Russia when its citizens were in danger of starvation. We did not publicize this at all, it was strictly out of compassion.

So, I've done some myth busting of my own. How about those 10 points?
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Addendum: in response to my esteemed, learned opponent in this debate of opinions, "sky2evan" (who spelled my name wrong), allow me to swiftly debunk his rebuttal to me.

1) In a nutshell, you're wrong:
"1777 - The First Continental Congress called the Bible "the great political textbook of the patriots" and appropriated funds to import 20,000 Holy Bibles for the people.

This is the very essence of America - that there is such a thing as Truth, and that Truth can be known by man; that men are "created" and their rights come from God, their Creator, and that governments exist to protect these God-given rights.

It is no wonder that the U.S. national motto - "In God We Trust" - is found on all U.S. coins, engraved on walls of both houses of Congress, and that every session of Congress begins with a prayer by its chaplain. The Ten Commandments are emblazoned on the wall in the Supreme Court just above the place where the chief justice sits as a symbol of the source of all U.S. laws. Biblical quotations are etched on and in the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Library of Congress and many other official buildings. The Pledge of Allegiance is to the flag of 'one nation under God.'" (second website below)

Also, "sky2evan", you didn't directly answer the topic about whether the U.S. is based upon judeo-christian PRINCIPLES. It is undeniable that it is. Read the first couple websites below.

We can thank Yahoo! poster "Ron L" for the following observation: " If you pick up the Declaration of Independence, the first two and final paragraphs mention God. In fact it closes thusly:
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.


The Seal of the United States, proposed by Franklin Adams and Jefferson was a depiction of the Children of Israel being from Egypt by a Pillar (God) with the inscription "Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God." I could go on and on, but books have been written on this subject. "


2) OK, this one made me laugh, because you don't understand the most basic thing for which I am criticizing Liberals. Real American patiots like Ronald Reagan were not ashamed to defend the actions of the United States because he believed, and correctly so, that we are the greatest force for good in the world. This doesn't mean we don't make mistakes, but America is about the only country that really does things out of compassion. "Sky2evan", do you even understand the concept of patiotism? Patriotism is not blindly supporting the government no matter what it does, but you act as if the U.S. does more harm than good, and that is where you are dead wrong. Because of the U.S., we have practically defeated the last vestiges of the scourge of Communism, and we have Islama-Fascism on the run. Libya recently gave up it wayward ways, and we're working on getting Syria to abandon its self-defeating path.

You say, "wars should only be fought in self defense on the homeland". Here is what our President has to say: "The survival of liberty in our land increasingly depends on the success of liberty in other lands. The best hope for peace in our world is the exapnsion of freedom in all the world" Here is something for you to chew on, since you obviously want peace: two democracies have never gone to war against one another. Did you ever consider that ?????

You don't think our reason for liberating the Afghanis from the brutally oppressive Taliban wasn't humanitarian? Right from the outset, Bush reminded Americans that the Butcher of Baghdad was a threat not only to the region (he had attacked and invaded both Kuwait and Iran), but to his own people. How many hundreds of thousands of Iraqis died under his regime? The Kurds sure are happy we saved them. All the women who now have Constitutionally guaranteed rights are sure happy we intervened.

As you will read below, USAID, the department which dispenses US foreign aid does so based on criteria such as the money, "reducing long-term threats to our national security by helping to build stable, prosperous, and peaceful societies." The very definition of a stable, properous and peaceful society is a democracy. We have liberated two countries from the scourge of dictatorships and given them the greatest gift of all: self determination. They have a democratic form of government and enact all their own laws. The people determine their own future, not some brutal dictator or some backwards band of bearded religious zealots who grabbed the government for themselves. As you can see, I have proven the point that we liberated these countries for ALL THE REASONS YOU CITE: justice, humanitarianism, and national security interests. Thank you for making my point easier.

3) This is where your argument is pitifully weak, and you make no real points at all. It is undeniable that the media is Liberal. Contrast every tv news program with the more Independent Fox News. The difference is shocking. We've all become so used to the Liberal viewpoint, that we have started to think THAT is middle of the road!

4) He doesn't address point #4. I think we agree on this.

5) The U.S. gives aid to 100 countries. Now of course, some aid is given out of self interest; that is how every country operates out of a need for self-preservation. However, the U.S. stands alone in the amount of money it gives and the fact we give to so many countries the average person can't even find on a map. They have no strategic interest to us; we give out of compassion. Another point you don't bring up is that, in the U.S. there are hundreds of PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS giving foreign aid. When the amount of money Americans privately give and our government gives on our behalf, we give more than all the countries of the world combined.

Here is the rationale for giving aid: (and see first website below): The legislation today instructs the executive branch to pursue dozens of separate goals. Among them are reducing infant mortality, controlling population growth, supporting human rights, and encouraging private investment. The Bush administration's updated National Security Strategy released March 16, 2006 says: “Development reinforces diplomacy and defense, reducing long-term threats to our national security by helping to build stable, prosperous, and peaceful societies. Improving the way we use foreign assistance will make it more effective in strengthening responsible governments, responding to suffering and improving people's lives.”
As a personal note, I now live in the Czech Republic, and the one thing Europeans WON'T criticize Americans and the American government for is our unparalleled, stunning generosity.

So, as a last overature to "Sky2evan", you still want to denigrate me with smarmy phrases like me having "such a limited, partial view of things"?

Conservatives, like us or not, we know what we're talking about.