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Fourth Of July Lies
关于美国的14个谣言
America is the land of the free, home of the brave... the white picket fences, the 2.5 kids in every "modern family." Or so we've been led to believe.
美国，自由的沃土，勇者的家园……屋外环绕着白色尖桩篱笆，屋内奔跑着平均2-3个小孩——典型的“美国现代家庭”图景。而这些都只是我们印象中的美国。
In honor of the Fourth of July and the celebration of our independence from a country that taxed us without representation, we look at some of the ridiculous myths and outright lies that have people entirely misled about the United States. From Jackie Robinson to who really discovered America, these are the true stories about our history...
为了庆祝7月4号，这个标志着我们从另一个国家的剥削中解放出来的日子，我们审视了一些关于美国的荒谬传说及谎言，这些东西误导着人们对美国的看法。从黑人球员Jackie Robinson到航海家哥伦布，我们现在来将谣言逐一击破吧！
Myth 1: America Is A Democracy
谣言1：美国是个民主国家
In the current age, America and democracy are synonymous. Little do most Americans know they don't actually live in a democracy. America was actually founded as a Constitutional Republic, as stated in the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance. In an Economist ranking of the world's democratic countries in 2006, America didn't even crack the top 10.
当前，“美国”和“民主”似乎已成了同义词。然而绝大部分美国人不知道的是，他们生活的这个国家，并不是个民主国家。美国最初是作为一个宪法共和国而建立的，这一点在《宪法》和《效忠宣誓》中都有体现。在06年《经济学人》进行的一项全球民主国家排名中，美国甚至没有挤进前十。
Myth 2: The Founding Fathers Were Christian
谣言2：美国是由一群基督徒建立的
This is both true and false. A large number of the Founding Fathers were associated with various sects of the Christian church, like Protestantism and Lutheranism. However, many still openly opposed organized religion. Thomas Jefferson practiced Deism, which contends that reason and observation of the natural world are enough to determine the universe has a creator without the need for organized religion.
这句话半对半错。美国的开国者之中有一大批从属于基督教会的不同分支，如新教、路德教。然而，也有很多人公然反对有组织的宗教。Thomas Jefferson就信奉自然神教，该教的主张是：自然世界的推理和观察足以说明世界存在着创始者，并不需要通过组织教会来证明这一点。
Myth 3: Thanksgiving
谣言3：关于感恩节
While it's true that the occasion we now know as Thanksgiving first occurred between Pilgrims and nearby Indians, it originally was three days long and served to salute the annual harvest. (Imagine our modern version of stuffing and turkeys for three days.) For the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving was intended to be a religious holiday of fasting and prayer, but only turned to a feast after the rains came during one such period in 1623.
感恩节最初来源于清教徒和印第安人，这点是没错。不过，最初的感恩节足足有3天，是为了用来庆祝本年丰收的（想象一下用现代社会的庆祝方式胡吃海喝三天的情景……）。对于清教徒来说，感恩节是个虔诚的节日，在这段时间里人们禁食和祈祷。不过，1623年的那次感恩节下了场雨，于是节日内容转变成大快朵颐了。
