23 July 2007

On behalf of the U.S., I apologize

We spent the weekend with friends on the southern Oregon coast, and we took a side trip to the oh-so-cheesy Trees of Mystery in northern California on Saturday. One of the features of this tourist trap is a seven-minute trip in a cable tram thingie up to the top of a large hill. While we were waiting for our turn I overheard snippets of conversation between two couples behind us. One was from Holland and the other was (apparently) local.

They chit-chatted about things to see and do in the area and I sorta tuned them out after a while. Suddenly, the female half of the local couple said, "So do you go to church in Holland?" The Dutch woman said, "No, we don't." The other couple then proceeded to lecture them on why they should be Christians. The victims of this tirade remained polite and non-confrontational, but I could hear their discomfort with the topic. At one point, the crusading husband said, loudly, "You just gotta love the lord!" I just about lost it there, but we were having such a fun weekend I didn't want to ruin it with a confrontation.

So let me apologize to the visitors right now. Not all Americans are as rude as those two. Please don't let those two ignorant buffoons color your opinion of the rest of the U.S. Contrary to what they may think, this is a secular nation and there are many of us that are embarassed by the American Taliban. And forgive me for not speaking up.

Enjoy the rest of your stay!