Who Cares What The World Thinks About America? I Care.

Have I mentioned that I think this Pope rocks?

I can't imagine loving a Pope the way I did Pope John Paul, but Pope Benedict is coming close. Here is what he said to a gathering of Germany's Muslim officials:

"Terrorist activity is continually recurring in various parts of the world, sowing death and destruction, and plunging many of our brothers and sisters into grief and despair.

"Those who instigate and plan these attacks evidently wish to poison our relations, making use of all means, including religion, to oppose every attempt to build a peaceful, fair and serene life together."

This comes after a visit Friday to Cologne's synagogue, where Benedict was warmly received by Jewish officials for his remarks urging better Jewish-Christian relations and warning of rising anti-Semitism.

This is what I like. I like people with different views getting along. I like us agreeing on certain basic widely held moral beliefs and then trying to understand and live with each other as best we can beyond that.

The word 'catholic' means universal. We now have a global economy and, like it or not, the United States citizens can no longer ignore the rest of the world. We like our way of life here. We don't like to talk about politics. (not the bloggers of course, but everyone else) We like our sports, our movies, our cars, and our homes. It is easy to become so busy in our lives we forget that our government leaders make profound decisions every day that affect how other people on this earth see us. And we need to care how they see us, whether we want to or not.

There is another source of information that affect how others see us as well. Our media. And I don't mean just the news. In fact, I believe that it is our celebrity media that affects the world view as much as just about anything else. Millions across the world saw Fahrenheit 9-11. They also believed the distortion and lies that were crafted in the movie. I saw on a special on VH1 that the show "The Jerry Springer Show" was translated and shown all over the world and other countries could not get enough of it. When I heard that, I thought that if I got my impression of what Americans are like from The Jerry Springer Show then I too would hate Americans.

From international popular shows like "Baywatch" and "Friends," and all our R rated movies, the impression given is that all Americans are hedonistic and immoral. I can certainly see why Muslim countries would think so. In America we just find these shows funny or entertaining. We know they don't represent who we are or what we care about.

The rest of the world must have really been shaking their head when we elected a Christian, down to earth, conservative President twice. At least Bill Clinton fit in with the stereotype that has been put out there by the media about Americans. But George Bush? How could that happen?

There are many ways to poison relations with others. The Pope points out the most egregious and brutal- terrorism, but there are many other ways we do it as well. When the media allows people like Cindy Sheehan to say thinly veiled anti-Semitic remarks and not condemn her because they sympathize with her. When any of us blame entire cultures or religions for the problems in the world.

We seem to have forgotten a simple gesture that I was taught as a child....kindness. We need to be kind to those we disagree with. We cannot reach out and change anyone's mind without kindness. Pope John Paul knew that. When he died I was shocked at how the liberal media gushed over him. I mean he was conservative as they come. He would never back down on any strongly held moral belief and no one in the liberal media agreed with one thing he believed in, yet they liked him.

Why? Because he was kind. Because he showed no ill will toward anyone. Because he clearly loved people, even those who disagreed with him. He proved that you don't have to compromise or back down from your values to reach out to those who don't share them.

Let's get back to a little kindness here. Let the soldiers fight. Let the protestors protest. Let the angry rant. But let us show compassion.

After all, it is love that saves us.