Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever-changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm Johnstone Street. The ex-audience has been captivated by a German guy known as Freddie who's been posting about his travels across the American South. He's here for the World Cup. He's eaten at BW3s and Taco Bell, marveled at Bucky's, tubed the Chattahoochee, and been blown away by the size of an SEC stadium.
In Houston, J.J. Watt put him up in a five-star hotel room, and he's headed later in the month to an Ella Langley concert in Oklahoma City. Hosted this year, mostly in the U.S., the World Cup has brought thousands of first-time visitors like Freddie to the country, and he isn't the only one posting on social media about the experience. Many are shocked at how welcoming Americans really are compared to what they expected when they arrived. As a woman named Schuyler put it in a post, quote, I came to America expecting a great World Cup.
What I didn't expect was how welcoming everyone would be. Every local I've met has been desperate to recommend places to visit, food to try, things to see. Americans Thank you, end quote. The stories are great. A New Jersey deli that rolled out the red carpet for an English couple, a Scottish guy that held his first helping of North Carolina ribs as if it were his first child, an Italian guy amazed by unlimited refills on soda and free ice, a Swedish woman who learned there's better Wi-Fi flying over the Rockies than she had back home.
All the wealth, beauty, variety, and friendliness of ordinary Americana is apparently blowing minds. Freddie was impressed by a gas station in rural Alabama, the Bass Pro Shop, and a Waffle House, as much as he was by a private tour of the New Orleans Saints facility.
Now many foreigners who visit America only see New York, LA and Disney World. International news about America is constantly headlined by dark accounts and sinister accusations.
So is American news for that matter. Even without the obvious bias, the journalistic maxim of if it bleeds, it leads often will make things sound worse than it is. And there's always the dual temptation of either only praising America or being too good and enlightened to ever report anything positive about it. Nearly a century ago the great British writer GK Chesterton noted the strange way that people often think about their own culture and other cultures. It will generally be found, I think, that the more a man really appreciates and admires the soul of another people, the less he will attempt to imitate it.
The Englishman who has a fancy for France will try to be French, but the Englishman who admires France will remain obstinately English, end quote. And elsewhere, Chesterton noted that those who truly love their own cultures are in the best position to offer constructive judgment. Quote, the worst jingos do not love England, but a theory of England. If we love England for being an empire, we may overrate the success with which we rule the Hindus. But if we love it only for being a nation, we can face all events.
A man who loves England for being English will not mind how she arose. End quote.
Well, to jump into our time and place, America is certainly not perfect, but it's refreshing to see the simple joy from these World Cup fans, especially during this, America's 250th year. It should remind us all to protect and to steward what is good about our nation, to improve anything that we can about it, and to face the complicated realities that are all around us. Hopefully, our visitors will become better Germans, better Brits, better Japanese, better Swedes. For having been here, and hopefully, their posts will do more for diplomatic relations than we could have ever expected. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stone Street with Breakpoint.
Today's Breakpoint was co-authored with Dr. Timothy Paget. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download podcasts. And for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org. Colorado is at it again, trying to silence free speech.
A law in Colorado forces businesses to use customers' preferred pronouns, even if they're biologically inaccurate, and even if using those incorrect pronouns would violate a person's religious beliefs or conscience. That's a violation of free speech, but as Colorado has proved time and again, it has little concern for the First Amendment. At Alliance Defending Freedom, we're challenging the law on behalf of a Christian bookstore and a Colorado-based sports apparel company. but a court recently ruled against them. With ADF's help, they appealed the ruling, and they'll continue fighting to ensure Colorado doesn't get away with this next attempt to skirt the First Amendment.
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