I was out to dinner recently and the following statement was made.

"A Jewish-American is Jewish first, and American second. An Italian-American is American First and Italian Second"

Do you think that is true?

Don't know for sure but it would be interesting to know. I do know that muslim-Americans are muslim first. When we went into Afghanistan, they had to consult with some mucky-muck in Saudi Arabia if they could get his blessing.

Your poll should have a "not sure" option, IMO.

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Agreed.

Hell, there are plenty of people that are members of their political party first and Americans second.

Ask the person instead of making assumptions.

B

To me, it's a strange question.

Would you say Christian-Americans are Christians first, and Americans second?

Maybe it's just me.

Did your insurance company do the same to the 18yo kid? Probably not. They just went off a table that stated that if you were 18yo and this and that factor was present, you were more of a liablilty than a 30yo married female. My wife is older than I am. Same lifestyle but she has lower rates? Why? Because they think she is likely to live longer than I. Why? Because the statistics say so.

So, if most of them are this way, what would you do? Assume the next one will be different? As I said before, our own soldiers who took some oath even had to get clearence from some religious guy before going into Afghanistan. What if that guy had said "no"? If my life were on the line, would I want to be sharing a foxhole with that guy? I wouldn't.

Is that method right all the time? Nope. Anyone that tells you so is a liar. However, is it right more often than not? Insurance companies think so and they have been making money so I guess that is proof that the technique works in general.

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I am not an insurance company. I determine my rules for evaluation.

B

Maybe not but you have to admit that looking at trends is working.

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I was taught in this order:

God
Family
Country

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So that order worked for the originator of the sequence. More importantly is what YOU believe. Kinda like people who say "I was brought up this way....". What that tells me is that they have mastered the art of parroting their parents or whoever brought them up. It doesn't tell me what THEY themselves think.

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Well that pretty much settles it then. I wouldn't have thought about it like that, since one of the key reasons we came to this country to begin with was to be able to practice any religion we wanted. And there was a separation of church and state. But now I know better.

(I also know I really screwed up with the poll because it shows voter names...) DUH!

(Mods, if there is a way to change that, please do. I think people would be much more apt to vote if it were anonymous.)

Who is this "we"? You on the Mayflower?

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I think that it's easier to maintain a constant emotional or intellectual connection to a religion or philosophy that can be practiced every day, than to maintain such a connection to a country or culture a 1/4 of a world away, so in the very limited context of the statement, I would think that it's true. Just bear in mind that you could mix and match religions and countries in that statement without impacting its veracity.

Yep.