Recently, Hillary Clinton read her 2016 acceptance speech on "The View." (The speech she didn't get to give to the nation, obviously.) I don't watch "The View," so I heard only a few lines. I happened to catch the one where she claims that "America is the greatest country in the world." That one line gave me something to ponder for the rest of the day.
Growing up in the United States, I learned in school that we are the greatest country in the world, and as a child I never questioned this assertion. Now I have to wonder what gives us the right to claim this title when children in other countries are probably being taught that THEY live in the greatest country in the world.
I just found an article on "Soapboxie" that gives three reasons for the USA being the greatest nation in the world. The first reason is our Constitution which gives us more rights and freedoms than people have in other countries. I don't know enough about the governments in other countries to say whether ours is the best or not, but I do appreciate the freedoms that we enjoy. On the other hand, I regret that so many Americans are irresponsible with these freedoms. I have to wonder if we carry it too far when we allow people the freedom to do whatever they please, even when their actions are harmful to others.
Freedom is highly valued by many Americans, but some people might value other things. For instance, I value peace and non-violence. According to the Global Peace Index for 2021, the three most peaceful countries in the world are: Iceland, New Zealand, and Denmark. The United States doesn't even make the top ten. Some people might rate countries according to their health care systems. According to the World Population Review the United States ranks eighteenth in health care. On the other hand, the World Giving Index ranks us first in generosity (by individuals, not the government), something I can be proud of.
There are many different ways to rate countries, depending on what one thinks is most important; so you can only claim to live in the "greatest" country if it is greatest according to the value that is most important to you.
My question is, why does it matter? Someone claiming to live in the greatest country reminds me of a child saying, "My dad is stronger than your dad," or a consumer boasting that "My car is fancier than your car." So what? Why would I care when my focus in life is the building of bridges between countries, between peoples, and between heaven and earth?
In Matthew 23:11-12 we hear Jesus say: "The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted."
If we apply this lesson to the nations, we see that the greatest country is the one that serves the others, in order to create peace, justice, and prosperity in all of the world. I'm not sure which country this would be, but I would like to see the nations of the world make this their goal. Rather than acting like children who have to be "the best," "the strongest," "the biggest," or "the richest," I look for the day when every country strives to be the kindest, the most compassionate, and the most peaceful.
Thinking about the greatest country in the world reminds me of one of my favorite hymns, "This is My Song."
THIS IS MY SONG *
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine.
But other lands have sunlight too and clover,
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
Oh, hear my song, O God of all the nations,
A song of peace for their land and for mine.
*To the melody of Finlandia *Lyrics by Lloyd Stone
