by Lucinda Gunnin

Created on: June 27, 2009   Last Updated: June 30, 2009

Questions that imply misbehavior are logically flawed and this one is certainly no different. The question itself implies that there is a need to explain some alleged misdeed by the American people.

The American people, as a whole, are among the most accepting and tolerant people in the world. We allow people with differing opinions to debate their position. We encourage the practice of different religions. We force cultural sensitivity on people to the point that we are not allowed to voice an opinion if it can be somehow extrapolated that the opinion is based on religion, creed, sexual preference, race or anything that might be considered a hate crime.

In fact, a straight man can't kick the crap out of jerk who deserves it, if the jerk happens to be gay. There are rare occasions when it happens and the country as a whole is outraged and justifiably offended when it does.

How does that make us less tolerant of cultural differences?

Perhaps the first part of this discussion should be to ask less tolerant than whom? The French who have a national political party with Nazi tendencies gaining power? The Spanish who didn't understand what was wrong with their "slant eyes" photos? Hosts of Arabic countries where simply practicing Christianity can get you killed?

How about an entire religion who threatens cartoonists and authors because they use their art to depict a differing viewpoint? Is American less tolerant than they are?

Once you get past the faulty premise that Americans are less tolerant of cultural differences than other parts of the world, it is possible to examine the meat of the question. Does the geographical isolation of the United States affect the way we view other cultures?

Yes, but not in a negative manner. Because the United States has had more than 200 years of relative safety from invading armies, this country is less prone to irrational fear than some of our allies and enemies are. France and Germany have a centuries old history of conflict. Though the Germans have often been the aggressor, the harsh punishments imposed after the two world wars have no doubt left them fearful of their allies as well as their enemies.

In Switzerland, the country so many uphold as the model, non-citizens have few rights and emigration requires approval at all levels of Swiss society, from the local village board to the federal government. Is that really more tolerant than the United States is?

In Australia, another so-called free country in the world, the press is not free, the citizens have no right to know, and at least on the campus of the University of Wollongong, the "queer" organization for gays and lesbians had to be shut down due to continual violence and vandalism against its members. It was closed less than three years ago. In the United States, we were debating what additional rights, such as the right to marriage, to bestow on people with alternative lifestyles.

The simple fact of the matter is that America is not less tolerant of diverse culture. We do on occasion have glaring failures, an individual or group that acts in a matter inconsistent with the majority opinion of the nation, and these failures are more emphasized than failures elsewhere in the world because we do have a free society that openly criticizes these actions. And, because as the most free nation in the world, when we fail to meet our own standards, we end up with a black eye.

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