Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on February 5, 2011 at 6:32pm

Hee hee... my best friend and I used to make a game of counting roadside Baptist Churches in North Carolina and competing to see who could find the crappiest one.

 

First year I won after finding a baptist church set up in a back-yard shed with a collapsing roof. lol

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Chadia on February 4, 2011 at 3:50pm

yellowstonepark... it's seems so awsome.  but is it really?  Has anyone ever been there?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jon Heim on February 4, 2011 at 8:59pm

A big part of America is strongly against gay people and immigrants.

heath care is hard to get in our economy these days...we finally have a leader who wants to give us free health care, but the rich republicans want nothing of it.

Christiany is certainly the majority religion here. and yes, if you are anything but, you WILL be judged for it.

Our economy, like mentioned earlier, is bad. jobs are hard to find.

Honestly, the only reason I could give you to see America is because we have an interesting history. that's about it.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by luvtheheaven on February 4, 2011 at 9:15pm

My brother has been to the gay pride rally in Washington D.C. and has multiple gay friends even though he is straight - he is into theater and singing and encounters a larger number of gay males in those venues, even in his high school. He went to Winston Churchill High School in Potomac, Maryland (Southern Maryland), one of the most "prestigious" public high schools in the country where there are tons of Jewish people, Christians, Muslims, and non-religious people, people of various races, etc.

 

I went to Fallston High School (also a public school) in northern relatively rural Maryland. We had no gay people in my school - which is to say, they were all closeted. Everyone was Christian and white.

 

My brother went on field trips to Scotland and Disney World in Florida.

 

I went on field trips to "Slateville" in Pennsylvania (I'm not kidding) - they have a LOT of cool slate there, lmao, my Earth Science teacher LOVED it, we also saw the woods where they shot the waterfall scene in the movie "Tuck Everlasting" - that was actually in my county in Maryland. ;) And we went to "Hershey Park" in Hershey, Pennsylvania on field trips in 8th and 12th grade, I love that amusement park. ;) 

 

My school wasn't bad, we learned evolution like it was the fact that it was, it was understood that schools were secular, no teachers tried to make us pray or anything... we did have to sing Christmas songs on chorus, even religious ones, but usually there was one Hanukkah song to even it out lmao... etc. Surprisingly the county I grew up in was all conservative/republican, but I mean... I went to C.C.D. at my Catholic Church and my religious education teacher told me "sure the pope says that birth control is wrong, but we all use it anyway". Lmao. That was sort of the sentiment in my area. MANY people didn't really show up to church except on Christmas and Easter. Etc. ;)

 

I don't know how racist/anti-immigration/homophobic/etc. people are/were but I know I had a Mormon friend who actually was secretly pro-gay rights, she'd never admit it unfortunately, but she and her mother both agreed that it wasn't a "choice" to be gay, and well... I don't know what to say except I felt like I was in a pretty accepting area and people were pretty liberal. Granted my whole family is liberal and tolerant/accepting so it makes it feel like everyone is but idk I didn't encounter too much horribleness growing up, that's all. ;)

 

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Reggie on February 5, 2011 at 4:44am

- Is it true that a big part of America is strongly against gay people and immigrants?

 

No, not really.  You may find large geographic portions of the country are anti-gay or prejudiced against gays, but not a majority of the population.  Areas with greater population densities trend towards a more progressive and liberal outlook that would be more familiar to Europeans.

 

- What reasons would you give me to persuade me to come to America on holiday?

 

Well, I can say that most foreigners that I have had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with during their stay in the United States really did enjoy themselves.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James Smith on February 5, 2011 at 9:02am

Gay people - Yes, the religious reich would generally prefer to execute them or force them into "re-education camps"

Healthcare - The American congress has altered the original health care plan beyond all recognition or usefulness. Did the original planners look at how it's done in Brazil, Japan, or anywhere else? I doubt it. Isn't it odd that every country in the world with a freely-elected government has a healthcare plan for all of it's legal residents except the USA? Even more ironic, the USA provides free health care to everyone in Iraq and Afghanistan, including terrorists in training. But for it's own citizens, nope.

Social Security - Despite the shortcomings of the current system, it would be financially secure for decades to come if congress didn't keep "borrowing" the money for other projects. (read pork-barrel)

Religious overshadowing - Are you kidding? The USA is essentially a theocracy. No one has any chance of being elected to any office at any level unless they give at least lip service to religion. Most of the laws, customs, and practices of the USA have their roots in this theocracy.

Economy - It was good and even showed a surplus until the country became engaged in two counter-productive wars. Then the surplus was spent and billions more thrown away. Then when the banking meltdown occurred due to the greed and financial irresponsibility of a few, they were rewarded with bail-outs paid for by those who acted responsibly and reasonably.

The auto-industry was devastated because the were building an inferior product. With capitalism, that should mean they would go away as other auto companies have done in the past (Studebaker, Reo, American Motors) Instead, they also were rewarded for incompetence and stupidity with more bail-outs paid for by guess who?

Come to see America while it is still there. Please bring money, lots of it.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Timothy Van Uytfang on February 5, 2011 at 1:41pm

Well, I have gotten a lot of very interesting answers so far. What I've really noticed, is that there is so much diversity in the answers. Except for the social security and healthcare question, those answers are basically the same.

But are there any statistics or something about the first and third questions? 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Timothy Van Uytfang on February 5, 2011 at 3:07pm

Thank you so much! :)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Heiko Knipfelberg on February 6, 2011 at 2:25pm

More than anyone your opinions have been most accurate, in my opinion. I'm originally from the NYC metro area.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Skycomet the Fallen Angel on February 5, 2011 at 6:13pm

I'm an American and I'd be glad to answer your questions! ^_^

know that America has some problems with general healthcare

Actually President Obama is trying to fix this with a Universal Health Insurance package. Of course, it won't be easy to get this to work with conservatives foaming at the mouth about so-called "Obamacare."

lot of politicians in America are straight out liars and cheaters. >( Try the VAST MAJORITY. Politicians seem to spend more time trying to find new ways to manipulate votes out of Americans than doing their job. For me... it's voting for the "less dangerous of two [or more] idiots."

- Is it true that a big part of America is strongly against gay people and immigrants?

In short... yes. Most of the conservative Republican Party and the new "semi-party" Tea Party are strongly opposed to gays [for religious reasons - the Republican Party is currently in the iron vise-grip of the Christian Religious Right] And they are against HISPANIC immigrants [don't seem to care about European/ Asian ones] for reasons of Racism and Classism.

- What exactly is going on with that healthcare/social security thing?

Umm.. I dunno if I can really tell you the whole thing. I'm watching the explosion that followed the passing of the Health-care package but I'm not exactly sure all of what's going on. I do know that the health care problem is at least 2 fold. 1. The price of medical care and medications are so high that many people are going massively in debt or sacrificing basic needs for medicine for diabetes [for example] also 2. Health Insurance is the gateway to healthcare in america. Basically... if an person doesn't have health insurance here... they will only get healthcare in the extreme emergencies. [life-threatening... etc.] Health Insurance is usually bought in a package that comes with your job... but some lower-class jobs don't offer it at all. Personal health insurance is buyable. But health insurance in general is very expensive and the insurance companies and reluctant to cover patients with serious chronic health conditions.

I have no idea what is going on with social security.

- Do you guys notice any religious overshadowing? 

What do you mean? Politics mixing with religion? - All the time... in both parties... but more among republicans

Religion invading public space with annoying ads and hell-threat billboards? All the time

Basically religion is unavoidable in this country. As an atheist I often feel like Jesus is stamped on a wet rag that someone keeps hitting me in the face with.

How is your economy? 

Currently...Hard to say... it appears to be getting better... but we could be headed for the dreaded "double dip." In general... however, the American economy is one of the strongest in the world.

 

What reasons would you give me to come to america on holiday?

1. The scenery here is beautiful.. lots of trees... varying landscapes

2. Lots of attractions around the country [Disney World, Washington DC [in general], Los Vegas [be careful here... people have been known to get drunk and wake up in bed with a stranger... lol], lots of gorgeous beaches.]

3. If you stay here for only a short time you are unlikely to be bombarded by stupidity in politics and religion. 

 

For all its faults though, the US has some major good points. We have some of the best colleges in the world, we are the longest lasting democracy in the modern world, we continue to be a world leader in science.

PS... your english is fine.

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Caleb Jordan on February 5, 2011 at 7:19pm

America is a very large country with many different types of people. There are a large number of deeply religious people, but they are a minority. Most people in America believe in some type of god and there are plenty who believe in heaven. But most of these people aren't looking to convert others. They just have a few of these beliefs for whatever reason, and that's it.

 

There is some anti-gay sentiment in America. Personally, I don't think it's all that bad here. But I'm not gay, so maybe I've just never had to really experience it. I know America has made a lot of progress in this area in the past couple of decades. I would say that a blatantly anti gay person would suffer more rejection than a person who is actually gay. Most people in America aren't ok with dissing gays. 

 

Concerning our healthcare and social security: our government recently passed a major piece of legislation to overhaul the system. And right now it looks like that legislation may be repealed. Basically, our country is currently trying to decide if we want our healthcare to be government run or left to the individual. And supposedly, our social security could go bankrupt in the next 20 years or so. But I've read other things completely to the contrary that would seem to indicate our social security is safe. But right now, it's ok and functioning, no one is going without. 

 

Our economy: hit bottom in 2008 and has been slowly recovering ever since. The 90's were extremely good for us, and I think people will always see things as not as good as they were then. Unemployment is around 9%.

 

The reasons for coming here: America has so much to offer. I have spent some time in Europe (mainly Great Britain and Germany) and while there I found many more similarities than differences in relation to America. America has many major cities, my favorite is Seattle. Also, you can find almost any type of landscape here. Flat plains, snowy mountains, dry deserts, sunny beaches, and forests filled with wildlife. It's all here, you just have to go to the right place. You will also find different people, cultures, accents, food et cetera. 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Angela Gorman on February 6, 2011 at 12:54am

Friend of mine just returned from a 2week humanitarian visit to Eastern Congo. She had been to Africa before but was traumatised by the level of poverty. Couldn't stop crying for 2days when she got back. Point is that she went in my place, I should have been the person going but couldn't go. I was in Rwanda last year and noticed an absence of 4x4 vehicles belonging to faith based organisations which are so common in the other 7 countries I have visited. Ironically, Rwanda is streets ahead of so many other countries in Africa in getting itself on its feet after the Genocide of 1994 when 1million were murdered in 3months. It's still poor but improving at a faster rate than most of its sister countries which are dominated by oppressive religious views. Message there I think???   

• ▶ Reply

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next ›
• Page