Title: American Citizens Should Parti
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Blog Entry: This week, I stumbled over a passage in a book of interviews with leading personnel from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan that has me mulling the evolution of immigration to our country. The director of client services says, "I have lived in the United States for 14 years, but I am originally French. I became American last year. At first I applied for permanent residence, but I decided to take it a step further and apply for citizenship... "A lot of people have asked me, 'Why did you become American? What's the big deal?' But it's so I can vote. I want to have my say in electing the most important person in the world into his office... Discount Accessories "Do I now feel American? No, because my education was in France, and I think you culturally belong to the place where you grew up... Also, when I travel outside New York, I just don't feel any connection culturally to the people I meet. "My attachment is to New York. One of the things I really enjoy about this city is the cultural diversity and the fact that you come across people from very different backgrounds, all mingling together, not asking questions about your customs, your religions, your political views, your sexual orientation. Nobody cares; it's a nonissue." I found myself troubled. This well-educated, cultured, self- supporting immigrant feels an attachment to New York City, but not to the United States. He feels comfortable with New Yorkers, but feels no cultural connection with Americans outside NYC. He became a citizen in order to vote, but he is casting a vote not based on what is good for the country as a whole, and I have been asking myself if there are flaws in the legal immigration process almost as problematic as the illegal immigration crisis. The United States used to be referred to as a "melting pot," indicating the desirable goal of retaining our own national identity while assimilating people of every race, nationality and creed. That assimilation process is vital if we are to remain a united people with strong commitments to one another and to the survival of this country we call home, and that necessity of assimilation is the main purpose for quotas, so that a separate and culturally overpowering people group does not overwhelm our identity and establish theirs in its place. As a free country, we have shown respect for the nations and cultures of the world. Americans enjoy international travel, enjoy international travelers who visit us here, and have a deep appreciation for the diversity and enrichment that other cultures offer. But when it comes to immigration, we cannot survive as a nation if our new arrivals isolate themselves within enclaves of their own culture, race and beliefs, with their strongest identity their nation or culture of origin not their new homeland. We enjoy religious freedom in the United States for all religions, all faiths, or no faith at all. Yet I find myself deeply troubled as the last decade has brought groups of Muslims who have settled en masse in places like Michigan with the desire to adopt Shari'a law into public policy and who are approaching the numbers to be able to vote to that end. I am equally troubled that, Womens Air force one high in schools that have seen the banning of school prayer and the prohibition of the faintest whiff of Judaism or Christianity, there is talk of setting up prayer rooms for Muslim students. Other articles: http://musangola.com/blog/view/id_2688/title_American-Legion-Outraged-by-La/ http://www.internationalballerz.com/community/blog/view/id_2322/title_Stretching-the-Life-Cycle-Span/
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