Chesterton's Ideas on American Citizenship

"Now in a much vaguer and more evolutionary fashion, there is something of the same idea at the back of the great American experiment; the experiment of a democracy of diverse races which has been compared to a melting-pot. But even that metaphor implies the pot itself is of a certain shape and a certain substance. The melting-pot must not melt. The original shape was traced on the the lines of Jeffersonian democracy; and it will remain in that shape until it becomes shapeless. America invites all men to become citizens; but it implies the dogma that there is such a thing as citizenship. Only, so far as its primary ideal is concerned, its exclusiveness is religious because it is not racial (p. 9)."

In this quote Chesterton refers to the different cultures and races that form America. He calls the idea of American of welcoming new citizens an experiment. This experiment is seen as failure which will eventually mix so many races that will loose its original shape. The foundation of the American society is called by Chesterton a melting pot.

Citizenship is seen by Chesterton as a questionable set of believes with no real sustainability. He also argues how American princibles are made of Christianity ideas and believes. These ideals of freedom and liberty are the foundation of the declararion of independence. This declaration is against anarchism, poligamy, and atheism the same way as Christianism.

Chesterton also compares the American set of believes and actions with the Spanish Inquisition. During this cruzade Christianism and its believes was the excuse for many wrongful acts. The essay this week is very simmilar in the context of citizenship it shows. As immigrants we have to undergo a set of questions and give up our own ideas of democracy.

Despite of the amount of years it has passed since Chesterton's essay we still have to answer questions that go against our own believes. We no longer have to answer how many husbands or wives we have, but yet we have to give up loyalty to the countries that gave us birth. Chesterton also discusses innequality and seems to understand  it as the result of the comparision people tend to perform in order to try  compete between one and other. He does not see it as something that is real and tangible.