Wednesday, April 15, 2009

In Case You're Feeling Ungrateful

I have honestly never understood how it is that people can dislike America so much. And by "people" I mean "Americans", because while much of the world may be in a toddler-like snit over the latest American faux paus, who the heck cares what the rest of the world thinks? They can take their (im)moral superiority and find somewhere shady to put it.

But Americans, who enjoy freedom in almost every imaginable respect, have more and greater opportunities than anyone anywhere else in the world, and who live lives of luxury (even in the poverty sector - we don't really know what "poor" is) find a whole lot to whine about. I've always thought it would be a good idea to ship these ungrateful brats off to the Middle East for awhile, and see how they like life in a tent in the Arabian desert, where women have no rights and basic sanitation is wanting.

In case you've ever found yourself complaining about life in the good old USA, read these two articles I came upon in my morning perusal of the news. Both made me profoundly grateful to live in this country, and should make any rational person rethink any complaints they might have about the haves and have-nots of American life.

This article is about an eight-year old Saudi girl who was married off to pay her father's debts. A court has refused to annul the marriage, as long as the husband does not have sex with the child until after she reaches puberty. Oh, that's nice. I feel better now. I'm sure the loving husband will abide by his agreement, considering he bought an almost-baby for a bride.

Or how about this one? Women protesting a marriage law passed last month in Kabul, Afghanistan were pelted with stones by counter-protesters. Among other things, the law states when and for what reasons a woman may leave her house alone, and allows a man to demand sex from his wife every four days unless she is ill or would be harmed by intercourse. I'm all for more sex in marriage, but good heavens! Laws delineating how often the husband's demands must be satisfied, whether the wife likes it or not? Scary!

Oh, I'm so grateful to live in this country! What a wonderful life we have here! We don't even know the meaning of suffering or oppression.

God Bless America!

2 comments:

Sara said...

AMEN.

Did you read the statement, regarding the same Afghani law, by one of the clerics who said, "the woman must submit to the sexual desires of their husbands?"

Anyone who complains about America (especially women) should read "Princess" or "A Thousand Splendid Suns" - it will set them to rights and make them grateful to just leave the house at all.

fiona said...

Yes, America truly is the Promised Land! Even with her problems, I can't think of a better place. And those problems really are rather piddly, overall, compared to those in other nations. We're definitely enjoying our time abroad, but would never want to live forever out of the US. I read A Thousand Splendid Suns and I loved it. We have so much to be grateful for.