Things I've Heard Recently

In a recent conversation concerning the issues affecting Third-World Christians, a Kenyan man currently being educated in the United States told me his views on President Bush. He said "Bush has horrible foreign policies--but if I could still vote and remain a Kenyan citizen, I would vote for Bush." He went on to explain that while Bush's international/foreign policies are bad for the rest of the world, Bush continues to be a good president (at least from Kenya's perspective) because he listens to his people, the Americans, and really tries to do the best for them/us. My Kenyan conversationalist ended with "It really doesn't matter how Bush looks to Kenyans because Bush is an American and has Americans to take care of, so he should not worry about his bad foreign policies, but just continue to work for Americans.

This was an interesting contrast with the other man I'd heard that day...

Earlier that hour I had listened to a First Nations man, (who also may be know as Amer-Indian, or Native American depending on which circles you find yourself in). As he spoke on the same aforementioned topic (issues affecting Third-World Christians) the commentary was focused on how bad the Western world is, and always has been. The First Nation man currently holds citizenship in his ancestral tribe, believed to be here in North America before any white people came, therefore the term "First Nation(s)". But--he's also Canadian. He was railing really hard about "the West" but he used terms that really made me think he was equating "The West" with the United States, not necessarily including any Canadians, or any Europeans either. So I propose the question here: What has Canada done (or not done) to First Nations peoples that makes them any less "western"? Or Africans for that matter?

I watched both of these men speak, especially noting the difference in attitude between the Canadian and the Kenyan. The Kenyan man sat silent, listening intently to all opinions being offered, waiting to speak his turn. He only came to listen and learn. The First Nation/Canadian man appeared to not listen as he adjusted the laces on his New Balance shoes, and uproariously clicked notes on his Toshiba laptop as he wrote secret notes to himself about the lecterer's misuse of the terms "Third-World" and "Two-Thirds-World", his long hair pulled back to expose his very light complexion, like mine, his long silver earrings glittering...I realize that I probably would not have noticed such things except that he was just as white and North American as I am and yet he felt it was his duty to tell all of the white people present how horrible we are for our modern technology and for being so "Western" in the most inexpressible and incongruent use of terms to make the word "Western" be ultimately the most vile, evil term that anyone could or would use, and yet.. utterly undefinable.