I’ve been accused of hating America several times in the past week, and I might even have said it myself a few times. But the truth is America is the greatest country in the world, and here’s why: the American Dream.
During his speech at the Democratic National Convention, Barack Obama said, “In no other country on Earth is my story even possible.” He’s right, and thousands of stories like his unfold here every day, regardless of who is president.
In the wake of the election there has been talk of moral values dividing this country, but in America, religion doesn’t need to hold us back. It doesn’t need to divide us. It can help us fulfill the American Dream.
The story that exemplifies this for me is that of my friend Guillermo. His family moved to the suburbs of Chicago from Guatemala when Guillermo was 3 years old, during the Reagan presidency. Nineteen hundred miles for a better life.
George H.W. Bush was just leaving office when a precocious Guillermo introduced his family to Pentecostal Christianity. The religion saved his parents’ marriage and ensured that he had a stable home to grow up in.
I met Guillermo in junior high, during the Clinton years. He carried his Bible around with him at school. He bought a disk containing pornography from a classmate and destroyed it to make a point. He didn’t square dance in gym class because it was against his religion. He read the “Left Behind” books before they were cool. Yeah, he got picked on a bit.
At about the time Clinton got re-elected, Guillermo started to question his religion. Part of it was that it didn’t allow him to date girls or listen to popular music, but I think the “gay people, Catholics and atheists are going to hell” thing had something to do with it too.
Shortly after George W. Bush was inaugurated, Guillermo was elected governor of the Illinois Youth in Government program. He tried to pass a bill legalizing gay marriage but it died in the House.
Guillermo started his freshman year at Harvard University just before the Twin Towers came down — 15 years from Guatemala to Harvard. From a fundamentalist Christian to a gay marriage advocate.
To quote one of the United States’ own philosophers, “Only in America.”
This story isn’t about liberal values overcoming religion; it’s about how religion shapes our lives. Guillermo still worships at the same church he brought his parents to when he was ten. The same values still guide him.
Guillermo’s story will continue to play out during the next Clinton presidency and the Obama presidency. He could follow in Obama’s footsteps or become the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. Or he could sell his soul to Wall Street. But only in America would he have these possibilities.
The best part about Guillermo’s story is that it isn’t all that unique. Probably everybody here knows somebody like Guillermo. There are more Guillermos today than ever before in history. And not even George W. Bush can hold them back.
Greg Lowe is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].
