Talking with American friends about their country can be a trip.
Had a friend explain part of the Protestant Work Ethic of 'work til you die and Heaven is your reward' and that they're raised to believe, "if someone tries to convince you to do good/helpful things in a way that doesn't go through the church, the devil's talking through them to lead you astray." Absolutely wild! They're genuinely taught to believe that people can't be morally good on their own, it can only come from wanting to adhere to religious rules to get into Heaven. That explains SO MUCH about them!
I have to add to this, because their level of nationalism and propaganda is crazy. I mean, I already knew that, but-
To calm down panicking preschoolers during 9-11, my friend's pre-school (in a church) decided to "prepare the kids". Now, I figured this would either mean safety drills or prayer (cuz, you know, church). Yet, no, their 'preparing' meant having the kids practice the Pledge Of Allegiance, the Nation Anthem, and This Land is Your Land. Like, WHAT?
Genuinely cannot compute this. Like, this might actually beat their explanation of world maps that cut Asia in half to put the US in the middle. Just....
They didn't go with, 'let's pray to our Lord and Saviour', or 'our President/troops will protect us' (admitedly, it was Bush in charge, but still). No, they went straight to the nationalsit propaganda machine as a way to 'prepare' preschoolers. Absolutely fucking wild!
