In the past few days I have been blessed to hold conversations with several people from other countries. I always enjoy chatting with foreigners because it is an opportunity to learn from them and see how they perceive America and Americans.
All of my conversations were with well educated Christians whose quality of life and international experiences are broad and deep. Each has traveled to Africa, Asia and America many times. they are the elite of Europe and Great Britain. Despite their wide experiences and deep education I am shocked by some of their perceptions of America and Americans.
First, all of them are convinced that the USA is collapsing economically. They must all be watching Lou Dobbs of CNN, the most pessimistic and anti growth person in the media. The US is experiencing a small hiccup in housing but all other indicators are actually quite high. (I realize that during an election cycle the people out of office have to "pretend" that the economy is bad. So, the Democrats will weep crocodile tears about how awful things are.) Read this story by David Brooks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/27/opinion/27brooks.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Second, many perceive all conservative Christians as following some kind of secret plan to make America a theocracy ruled by a Baptist Preacher. At the same time they are confused about the difference between Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell.
Here is my point. The media in other countries tend to attack whoever is President of the USA. The media generally hate George W. Bush and it is no wonder the people in those nations are ignorant about what is really happening. So, remember, we in the USA know even less about other countries than they know about us, so be gracious.
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