American Culture Archives - TheAmericanCitizen.org

Golf’s Real Major Battle

February 7, 2023July 14, 2022 by Tom McGinley

Given that many golf tour professionals make millions each year, it’s hard to grasp that they could be underpaid. But relative to the extraordinary growth of compensation contracts in other pro sports, PGA golfers have for the most part been left behind.

Last (full) year, Jon Rahm was the leading money earner on the PGA Tour (not including the FedEx Cup) with $7.7 million in winnings. He was top dog among the best golfers on the planet. As much as this amount is, it paled in comparison to what professional athletes make in other sports.

According to Spotrac, there were 150 National Basketball Association players, 170 Major League Baseball players and 254 National Football League athletes who made more than Rahm.

Liberal comedian Bill Maher on the risks of treating kids as transgendered

May 27, 2022 by The American Citizen

A Tribute to Fathers

June 18, 2021June 17, 2021 by Tom McGinley

The root cause for virtually every cultural problem in the United States is the number of children growing up without fathers in their homes.

This is not the case within my own family. I am fortunate to have four sons (two sons, Mike and Matt and two sons-in-law, Dustin and Patrick) who are loving and dedicated fathers to their children. My grandchildren are all very young, very blessed and just assume that having dad at home is the way it is with kids everywhere. We know it is not.

This Sunday is the nation’s 112th celebration of the value of fathers. My effort here is to personalize this day by publicly thanking these men who are raising my grandchildren to let them know how valuable they and fathers like them are in the lives of their kids, their wives and society at large.

One Father who has the Courage to Publicly Take on the “Woke” Establishment

April 20, 2021 by The American Citizen

As “wokeness” runs rampant in America’s public schools (and especially college campuses), most wealthy private K-12 schools had remained focused on classical education to the approval and support of parents paying their children’s tab.

But gradually this national infection has been invading those schools as well. Traditional, inclusive education where students are exposed to a variety of concepts and taught to actually think with some depth is under an insidious attack.

It is being replaced by an insidious “woke” mentality in which all of humanity (can never be aligned with common purpose or goals but) must be divided into two groups that can never be permitted to come together: victims and oppressors.

One parent at the $54,000 per year Brearley School in New York City had enough of the changes and proceeded to write one of the most powerful letters you’ll ever read. It was initially posted here and reported in the New York Post. We’ve decided to post it below in its entirety. It is absolutely brilliant and I urge you to read it.

Doctors Testify:
Government May Cause “Massive Mortality”

December 4, 2020November 26, 2020 by The American Citizen

On November 19, 2020, four physicians testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee chaired by Senator Ron Johnson (R.,WI).

Testifying were Peter McCullough, MD, vice chair of Internal Medicine at Baylor University Medical Center and a professor of medicine at Texas A&M College of Medicine; Dr. George Fareed, MD, a Family Medicine Specialist who graduated from Harvard Medical School where he was a professor and also at the UCLA School of Medicine; Harvey A. Risch, MD, PhD., is Professor of Epidemiology, Yale School of Public Health; Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH Professor of Health Services, Policy, and Practice Dean of the School of Public Health Brown University.

Dr. McCullough opened his remarks by saying that with this new surge in cases, hospitals are not yet at capacity but could be eventually overwhelmed (as flu season is just getting underway) if there isn’t early at-home intervention. He urged government officials to be more helpful in assisting primary care physicians with early COVID-19 treatments. Dr. McCullough stated unequivocally that “we prevent hospitalization and death.”

Government May Cause “Massive Mortality”

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 11: The Birth of Science and Rise of the Arts

November 12, 2020November 12, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 11 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

Why did science (along with capitalism) originate in Europe and not somewhere else? Certainly there were brilliant people in other cultures. The answer has everything to do with the people’s image of God.

For over a century, secular intellectuals have quickly and enthusiastically “credited” Christianity for Western colonialism. They maintain that fundamentalist Christian imperialistic societies embarked on a worldwide mission to destroy peaceful, indigenous cultures wherever they traveled. However, these same intellectuals are not so quick to credit Christianity with the wealth generated for these explorations by capitalism; or that it also led to many other human advancements like scientific discoveries and achievements in the arts.

Even today it would be out of character for these “enlightened” intellectuals to acknowledge that not only has there never been a separation between science and (Christian) religion, it was actually the Christian scholastics who were the authors of true science. Secularists contend that science developed in spite of the superstitious medieval beliefs they associate with Christianity — not because of it.

Part 11: The Birth of Science and Rise of the Arts

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 9 – The Dawn and Moral Foundations of Capitalism

October 30, 2020October 23, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 9 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

Thomas Aquinas was born during the same time period that Genghis Khan was ravaging western Asia. Aquinas became one of the most important figures in the development of Western Civilization, especially in reconciling the brilliant (but pagan) philosophy of the ancient Greeks with historical Christian theology.

In his landmark book, Summa Theologica, Aquinas brought together Biblical revelation with human reason; in particular the philosophy of Aristotle, whom he considered the greatest of the newly rediscovered Greek philosophers. Recall that most of the works of the ancient Greeks had only been recently found mostly through cooperation with the Islamic world from about the mid-12th to the mid-13th centuries.

Aquinas is considered one of Western Civilization’s greatest philosophers for proclaiming that reason was a gift from God instilled in humans to be used to understand, explain and enjoy His creation.
Both Augustine and Aquinas applied reason to God’s Word. Aquinas argued that faith must precede reason which had to be used with humility — the understanding that our intelligence and knowledge as humans is limited.

Part 9 – The Dawn and Moral Foundations of Capitalism

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 8 – The Impact of the Crusaders and Mongols on the Islamic World

October 30, 2020October 11, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 8 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

While the European continent was finally beginning to settle down in the 11th century, nothing was settled in the Islamic world. Muslim expansion was militant and continuous. Muslim Arabs waged war against the coastal areas of France and Italy and occupied Sicily.

Jerusalem was originally captured by caliph Umar from the Christians in the 7th century who weren’t significantly impacted for a few centuries. But by the 11th century the zealous Fatimid caliph, Hakim, was persecuting Christians and “despoiled” the Holy Sepulcher (the church built by Emperor Constantine’s mother in 330 A.D.). The Holy Sepulcher commemorated the hill of crucifixion and Christ’s burial tomb. Hakim had the 700 year-old church destroyed right down to the bedrock.

By the late 11th century, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I, who had been threatened by the (Muslim) Seljuk Turks appealed to the West (Rome) for help. In 1095 Pope Urban II exhorted the church council at Clermont, France to go to Jerusalem to take back the tomb of Christ from Islamic control.

Part 8 – The Impact of the Crusaders and Mongols on the Islamic World

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 7: The Christian Transformation of Europe

October 30, 2020October 1, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 7 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

Charlemagne’s empire didn’t last long after his death in 814 as a new wave of pagan barbarians waged war against Christendom in the 9th century. Among the most well-known were the Magyars (migrants from central Asia), called Hungarians in Latin. They settled in the middle Danube region around 900.

Other barbaric Germanic tribes originating in Scandinavia called the Vikings (a.k.a. the Norsemen or Danes) burst out in virtually all directions. They went as far as Kiev (Russia) in 864, founded Iceland in 874 and even reached North America around 1000. They remained and settled in places like England and Normandy (France).

Gradually, most of this second wave of barbaric tribes were also assimilated into the Christian faith and became ‘civilized’ and were accepted into local villages.

Part 7: The Christian Transformation of Europe

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 6: A Tale of Two Cultures – Muhammad in Arabia and Charlemagne in Europe

October 30, 2020September 24, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 6 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

It is widely known in Judeo-Christian teachings that Abraham (with his wife, Sarah) was the father of Isaac (who, in turn, was the father of Jacob who fathered twelve sons that became the twelve tribes of Israel). Many don’t realize that Abraham is the ancestral father of the Islamic world as well.

14 years before Isaac was born, an aging Abraham didn’t trust that God would ever give him a son with elderly Sarah, so he fathered a boy with Sarah’s servant, Hagar. An angel told Hagar to name her son, Ishmael, and said to her: (Gen. 16:12. “…his hand will be against everyone and everyone’s hand against him, and he will live in hostility toward[b] all his brothers.”

God didn’t want the birth of his nation of Israel created by an extramarital relationship. He told Abraham (Gen. 17:16) that it was Sarah who had to be “the mother of nations,” not Hagar — completely leaving Ishmael out of this legacy. But after hearing Abraham’s pleas to bless his son, Ishmael, God said (Gen. 17:20), “I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation.”

It clearly happened. Both Jewish and Muslim histories agrees that Ishmael is the father of the Arab nations.

Part 6: A Tale of Two Cultures – Muhammad in Arabia and Charlemagne in Europe

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 5: The Barbarians

October 30, 2020September 18, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 5 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

At the same time the Roman Empire ruled the greater Mediterranean region, in North America the metropolis of Teotihuacan (named much later by the Aztecs) near modern day Mexico City was the largest city in the Western Hemisphere before the 15th century. It is most widely identified by its iconic pyramids: Its Pyramid of the Sun is the third tallest in the world; a wonder at 216′ tall.

The culture lasted for as many as seven centuries but no one knows how it started, how it came to great power and why it collapsed. There are no records. It has no lasting legacy. Even its name: “Teotihuacan” was given by the Aztecs (“City of the Gods”) seven centuries after its collapse so we don’t even know what this thriving culture called itself.1

Part 5: The Barbarians

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 4: Rome’s Impact and the Ascension of Christianity

September 24, 2020September 4, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 4 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

No one knew it was year One in Rome when it arrived. In fact, it wasn’t even considered to be year One until over 500 years later when a sixth-century monk convinced the pope that the birth year of Christ was the greatest in history and that all years prior to that should be “B.C.” or before Christ and those after should be “Anno Domini” or A.D. meaning “year of our lord.”1

At its peak, the Roman Empire covered enormous territory. Virtually all lands west of Persia were part of the empire including Egypt, Greece, Asia Minor, Syria and (now the nations of) Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium, and England.

Part 4: Rome’s Impact and the Ascension of Christianity

Fort McHenry and the Star Spangled Banner

August 28, 2020August 28, 2020 by Tom McGinley

I wrote this essay that was originally published by the American Thinker on September 14, 2014, the 200th anniversary of Francis Scott Key’s writing of the Star Spangled Banner.

Given that Vice-President Pence gave his Republican VP nomination acceptance speech at Fort McHenry last evening, the site of the famed battle with the British Navy in Baltimore Harbor late in the War of 1812, I thought I’d re-publish the article and the story behind Key’s inspired poem.

* * *

Two hundred years, on September 14th, it was the unlikely convergence of a physician and a lawyer that produced the most recited poem in American history. Its inspiration occurred just a few miles from Fort McHenry, located in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the site of one of our nation’s most important military conflicts.

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 3: Christianity’s Surprising Growth during the Bloody Roman Persecutions

September 24, 2020August 26, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 3 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

In the first century, the Israelites were a relatively small ethnic group held captive by the Romans but in possession of one of the keys for unlocking humanity’s advancement. Their Jewish Bible contained the “secrets” for progress but was largely unknown beyond a tiny region in the Middle East.

For the Jews, the way in which their Bible was introduced to the word was the unlikeliest of situations: It was the followers of a man they did not believe was the long-awaited messiah who ultimately took their sacred scriptures to the world.

No human in history has had the impact of that Jewish carpenter from Nazareth whose public ministry only lasted for a few years. It was the birth, ministry, death and – for believers – the resurrection of Jesus Christ that changed the world.

Part 3: Christianity’s Surprising Growth during the Bloody Roman Persecutions

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 2: God, Greeks and the First Sexual Revolution

September 24, 2020August 21, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 2 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

The greatest surprise for European explorers, especially those like Columbus, was the backwardness of the people they came upon. They were stunned by the tremendous technological superiority they had. It made proud, brave peoples like the Mayans, Aztecs and Incas virtually and ultimately helpless in their defenses.

Even the highly regarded civilizations of the East like China, India and the Muslim world were quite backward by comparison with 15th century Europe.

Why had Europeans (for centuries) been the only people to “possess eyeglasses, chimneys, reliable clocks, heavy cavalry, or a system of music notation?”1 Why did the Europeans blow the rest of the world away when it came to things like “metallurgy, shipbuilding and farming?”2

Part 2: God, Greeks and the First Sexual Revolution

The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization
Part 1: America and Western Civilization Under Attack

September 24, 2020August 20, 2020 by The American Citizen

(Part 1 of a multi-part series on The Moral Triumph of Western Civilization.)

Nothing in history has benefited the human race like the ascendancy and dominance of Western Civilization. In this multi-part series we’ll prove it.

Many think of Europe when Western Civilization is mentioned but Europeans got a very late start toward civility. “Half of man’s recorded history had passed before anyone in Europe could read or write.”1

When the Roman Empire officially ended in 476, the European continent was a wasteland of crumbled “roads” and barbarian marauders. How then was it possible, that this disorganized, illiterate, unconnected region would come to dominate the world over the next millennium?

This is the first of an occasional series on the unlikely miracle of Western Civilization. Much to the dismay of multiculturalists, modern civilization grew and matured in Europe due to an amazing confluence of events unquestionably directed by a very patient God.

Part 1: America and Western Civilization Under Attack

Burn the American flag? No problem. Burn the LGBTQ flag? Get 15 years in prison.

December 19, 2019December 19, 2019 by The American Citizen

An Iowa man, Adolfo Martinez, 30, was just sentenced to 30 days in jail for “third-degree harassment” and one year for “reckless use of fire” when he stole an LGBTQ flag from a local “church.” That doesn’t sound so bad but what sets this case apart is Martinez was sentenced to another 15 years on a hate crime charge.

Martinez may have thought this act could be no worse than if he had burned the American flag since the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Texas v. Johnson (1989) that (American) flag burning was protected speech under the First Amendment.

The hypocrisy of the Yankees and the cowardice of the Flyers in the Kate Smith controversy

April 25, 2019April 24, 2019 by The American Citizen

Partially covered statue of Kate Smith at the Philadelphia Sports Complex. (Photo: NY Post)

This week the New York Yankees stopped using a recorded version of Kate Smith’s “God Bless America” that had been played during the seventh inning of each home game since 9/11.

Just a day later, the Philadelphia Flyers announced they were removing the Kate Smith statue next to its sports complex that was erected as a tribute to the deceased singer whom the team had adopted as its good luck charm after it won the Stanley Cup in 1974.

The Flyers released this statement: “While Kate Smith’s performance of ‘God Bless America’ cannot be erased from its place in Flyers history, that rendition will no longer be featured in our game presentations. And to ensure the sentiments stirred this week are no longer echoed, earlier today we completed the removal of the Kate Smith statue from its former location outside of our arena.”

The media said this was the face of an intimidating bigot. How wrong they were.

January 27, 2019January 26, 2019 by The American Citizen

Photo: (Screen shot) NBC Today program. Nick Sandmann

Behold the face of a cocky, intimidating bully. Obviously an all-American bigot. A man, err, boy who needed to be summarily condemned by many of the most powerful media organizations in the country. And all this long before the 15-year-old grows his first whisker.

The mainstream media’s portrayal of the incident in Washington, D.C. on Friday, January 18th was far worse than the incident itself. It was deliberately caused by a well-traveled activist, whose background the media conveniently chose to ignore or not even look into. (See tweets at the end of this article.)

News organizations and reporters just didn’t get it wrong, they rapidly jumped to their desired conclusion by overlooking tons of evidence to the contrary right in front of their biased noses. They WANTED this Catholic kid to be a bigot; they NEEDED the kid to be a bigot. He just fit the narrative too perfectly.

Why? Mostly because he had a red MAGA hat on and was coming from an anti-abortion rally. But also because he is white, male, Christian (and Catholic to boot).

In just two years, six-year-old James might face chemical castration. Can he be saved?

November 29, 2018November 29, 2018 by The American Citizen

There is a tragic story coming out of Dallas, Texas published in The Federalist about a 6-year-old boy named James who is caught in a life-changing, ideological tug-of-war between his divorced parents.

Divorce scars a child of any age but recent actions by the adults supposedly operating with the child’s best interests at heart may take the permanent damage to a much higher level.

We don’t know how it began but his mother, a pediatrician, took young James to “counseling” with an outwardly pro-LGBT therapist who diagnosed the boy with gender dysphoria. She advised his mother that he should be raised as a girl.

James’ mother enrolled him in first grade using the name, “Luna,” while dressing him as a little girl.

The diagnosis is tremendously critical for young James because he may be required to undergo life-altering physical changes — sterilization — in just two years when he is only eight years old.

Charles Schulz a racist? Absolutely not!

November 25, 2018 by The American Citizen

One of the most prevalent concepts on college campuses today is something called, “implicit bias.” It could be defined as being outwardly inclusive but inwardly or subconsciously bigoted.

For example, from Harvard to UCLA, you’ll find “implicit bias” training or mandatory courses for faculty and incoming freshman (freshpersons?). (See here, here and here).

It could be argued that searching for bigotry is now America’s favorite national pastime. To support the premise that all minorities are victims of a white male orchestrated society, virtually every aspect of everyday life is examined closely for even the slightest hint of racial prejudice.

Now, we find that Charlie Brown is accused of being a bigot — or rather his creator and animator, the late Charles Schulz.

This screen shot from “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving,” that aired on ABC just before Thanksgiving was cited by many in the Twitter universe as an example of Schulz’s explicit bias by having Charlie’s black friend, Franklin, seated by himself on the opposite side of the table from Sally, Charlie, Peppermint Patty and Snoopy. Linus and Marcie are at the ends.

Transgender “women” in female sports: Let them compete or totally unfair to women and girls?

October 20, 2018October 18, 2018 by The American Citizen

Carolien Van Herrikhuyzen, Rachel McKinnon, Jennifer Wagner.

What do we, as a compassionate society, do with transgender “women” who are physically biological males competing in female sports?

What about an international women’s soccer team comprised of mostly men?

So what if competitive women or girls get pushed aside or are denied recognition or scholarships due to guys competing in their sports? If we already allow “girls” with their male genitalia still intact in girls locker rooms in middle and high schools, what’s the big deal about a “woman” with ‘nads competing in women’s sports?

Well, it is a big deal to some female athletes who are talented, hard working and want to compete against other women but not against dudes who are now “women” simply because they declare it.

Some strong women do not believe Christine Blasey Ford

October 3, 2018October 3, 2018 by The American Citizen

Though the majority of American women appear to believe Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault accusation against Brett Kavanaugh, the news media are surprised that a considerable number of women find her presentation both unbelievable and embarrassing.

Octogenarian Doris O’Brien, writing in the American Thinker says Ford has “belittled” all women by appearing meek and fragile at the Senate Judiciary hearing last week. She says that if such an encounter (assault by Kavanaugh) actually occurred, by Ford’s own admission, there was no penetration, no physical harm or disability, only psychologically trauma. It should not have subsequently dominated her life.

O’Brien says that by speaking with no one about the alleged incident — close friends, family member(s) or trusted adults — she would have potentially become complicit in any future violent acts against other women by Kavanaugh. Ford says she even left her good friend, Leland Keyser, at the party completely unaware that she was now alone with four guys, two of whom had just tried to rape Ford. Some friend.

A federal judge agrees. This person is neither male nor female

September 21, 2018September 21, 2018 by The American Citizen

A federal judge in Colorado ruled that a “non-binary” Navy veteran, Dana Zzyym, does not have to indicate whether he/she is either male or female on the passport application. The plaintiff said he/she is neither and didn’t want to state an untruth on the application because the penalty would be a perjury charge.

The judge said that under the Passport Act of 1926, the State Department did not have the authority to enforce a “binary-only gender policy.”

Zzyym’s lawsuit began four years ago under the Obama State Department and continued into the Trump administration.

Sexualizing Sesame Street (Please let kids be kids!)

September 18, 2018September 18, 2018 by The American Citizen

Many in the LGBTQ community are celebrating today.

Why? Because one of the writers for Sesame Street has outed Bert and Ernie according to an article in the UK Sun.

Though Bert and Ernie have been a fixture on Sesame Street since 1969 and gay writer, Mark Saltzman joined the organization in 1984, he has modeled them after his relationship with his partner, Arnold Glassman.

Saltzman actually co-opted the beloved characters to fit his own personal relationship though it was 15 years after they were introduced. He told Queerty that he was Ernie and Glassman was Bert.

Nike: Use a true American hero for your ad campaign!

September 18, 2018September 17, 2018 by The American Citizen

It might have been too much to ask of Nike: Use another former professional football player and true American hero for your ad campaign. And it isn’t Colin Kaepernick.

In 2002, with 9/11 still fresh in his mind, 27 year-old, Arizona Cardinals’ defensive back, Pat Tillman walked away from a $3.6 million contract to join the Army.

He was shot and killed by “friendly” fire in Afghanistan shortly after leading his Army Rangers up a hill toward the enemy after he and comrades came under fire. Because of much of his effort, none of his men became casualties.

In 2004 he was awarded the Silver Star posthumously for gallantry on the battlefield. According to the L.A. Times, the Army said he engaged the enemy “without regard for his personal safety” in presenting the award.

True nature lovers

September 23, 2018September 17, 2018 by The American Citizen

Well, you’re obviously quite naive if you thought that the 80 varieties of sexuality covered by Tumblr are all there are. Now another form of human sexual desire has blossomed on to the American scene.

Professor Lauran Whitworth of St. Mary’s College of Maryland has published an article in the journal, Feminist Theory, in which she talks about the apparently growing and arousing practice of “ecosexuality.”