Boy Scout Troop 325

Scoutmaster Minute

April 8, 2003

"An American”

by George Denise, Scoutmaster

(submitted by Todd Hauschildt)

“You probably missed it in the rush of news last week, but there was actually a report that someone in Pakistan had published in a newspaper an offer of a reward to anyone who killed an American; any American.

In response, an Australian dentist wrote the following to let everyone know what an American is, so that they would know when they found one:

‘An American is English, or French, or Italian, Irish, German, Spanish, Polish, Russian, or Greek.

An American may also be Canadian, Mexican, African, Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Australian, Iranian, Asian, Arab, Pakistani, or Afghan.

An American may also be a Cherokee, Osage, Blackfoot, Navaho, Apache, Seminole, or a member of any one of the many other tribes known as Native Americans.

An American is Christian, or he could be Jewish, or Buddhist, or Hindu, or Muslim. In fact, there are more Muslims in America than in Afghanistan. The only difference is that in America they are free to worship as each of them chooses. An American is also free to believe in no religion, nor even in God, for that matter. And for that he will answer only to God; not to his government, certainly not to armed thugs claiming to speak for the government and for God.

An American is from the most prosperous land in the history of the world. The root of that prosperity can be found in the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes the God given right of each person to the pursuit of happiness.

An American is generous. Americans have helped out just about every other nation in the world in their time of need. When Afghanistan was overrun by the Soviet army 20 years ago, Americans came with arms and supplies to enable the people to win back their country. As of the morning of September 11, Americans had given more than any other nation to the poor in Afghanistan.

Americans welcome the best; the best products, the best books, the best music, the best food, the best athletes, and the best intellects. But they also welcome the least. The national symbol of America, the Statue of Liberty, welcomes “your tired and your poor, the wretched refuse of your teeming shores, the homeless, tempest tossed.” These, in fact, are the people who built America. Some of them were working in the Twin Towers the morning of September 11, 2001; working to make a better life for them and their families.

I’ve been told that the World Trade Center victims were from at least 30 other countries, cultures, and first languages, including those countries that aided and abetted the terrorists.

So you can try to kill an American if you must. Hitler tried. So did General Tojo. And Stalin. And Mao Tse-Tung. And every other bloodthirsty tyrant in the history of the world. But in doing so, you would just be killing yourself. Because Americans are not a particular people from a particular land or a particular culture or a particular religion. They are some of the best from every country the world over.

They are the embodiment of the human spirit of freedom.

And everyone who holds that spirit everywhere is an American. Pass this around the world.’”

Thank you for listening. And God be with you!