Bow to other leaders?

As two leaders they are on equal footing and neither should bow or become subservient, but in no way shape or form should the leader of the free world bow to anyone. Once again it shows weakness to other countries. I don't want them to kiss our a$$, but there no way he should have done this. Lack of foreign policy experience. And I'd say the same thing if it were anyone including Hilary in that position. He's speaking for me and I don't appreciate what his body language is saying.
 
Of course he should. It would be an insult to Japan if he bows to the king of Saudi Arabia and not the Emperor. If I understand correctly the whomever bows lower is subserviant(sp)?
 
I think in this case it's just a standard greeting and nothing more. Still seems weird.
 
Actually the lower the bow the stronger the apology in the Japanese culture. We don't need to be apologizing for anything and it is NOT protocol for an American President to bow to anyone no matter where he happens to be. I usually stay out of these threads entirely but this makes me mad as HE#*.
 
Maybe he should have thrown his shoe at the emperor. :D Then he would have shown disrespect for the emperor (ala Iraqis):D instead of respect & he would be revered in Iraq. :D:eek: On a more serious note, on a scale of 1 to 10 how serious is this debate/incident in the grand scheme of things? Don't we have more serious issues to debate then whether our Pres. should or should not be bowing to the Emperor of Japan, the Queen of England or the Pope. My guess is that it's probably happened lots of times in our history down thru the years & now all of sudden it's front page news. Go figure. Politics. :rolleyes: BTW The Emperor of Japan is not a leader or the leader of Japan he's just a figure head much like the Queen of England. BTW II Wasn't Michelle Obama criticized for patting the Queen of England on her back. Oh my you can't touch the Queen for heavens sake that's disrespectful. Come on people. Which way is it? Kiss their ____ or tell them to kiss your ____. Which is it for cryn out loud?
 
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Now were talkin. :D Now that thars funny. :D I don't care who you are. :D Way to go MikeyW. I knew I could count on you to bring it into the proper perspective. :D
 
I find this discussion a little confusing. Do we live in a democracy or a monarchy? Is everyone considered equal or not? What determines if someone or some country is "better" than the other and should or should or not bow? Money? Number of Nukes? Is the President of the United States better than the President of Japan? Should the president of Japan just bow to our President and maybe kiss his ring or polish his shoes? Seems to me that the King of all had something to say about this: "If you want to be first, you must be last."

And is grandstanding or posturing more important than common courtesy? It certainly seems so in today's world where whomever can yell the loudest or has the most money wins every time. What would the King say about that?
 
I don't think there is anything wrong with courtesy and there should be absolutely coutesy between nations. The problem is this country has a history of not doing this since 1776. We'll meet a king ,emperor or country leader on EQUAL footing. I don't care if the guys lineage goes back 3000 years. The point is the President(democrat or republican) presents himself for the American People and ultimately for me. He does not bow to anyone and we meet on Equal footing. It's hard for a leader to lead when he's bent over. Our country has "earned" that right. If he doesn't want to do that, then we have a problem. Like I said in the earlier post, there was nothing about Barack, it's the position he took. And that wasn't inherited from the previous adminstration, but his choice at that moment.
 
Thank you Karl for acknowledging the King of all Kings. There was & will only be one person who ever walks this earth who was & is perfect. The one & only example of someone we should all look to as the perfect role model for our conduct & someone we should all strive to emulate & worship. The one that everyone should bow to & show respect to.

(paraphrasing from Matthew) Jesus did indeed say: Many who finish first on earth, shall finish last in the kingdom of heaven & many who finish last on earth, shall finish first in heaven. See also 1 Peter 3 where Peter said we should be submissive to one another. He said "live in harmony with one another, be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble." Submission is voluntarily cooperating with anyone out of love and respect for God first and then secondly out of love and respect for others. Submission to others is a loving acknowledgement of another person's value as a person.

Who after all was submissive for our sake & offered his blood & life for our sake? What greater sacrifice has been made?

Did Jesus, the greatest & only perfect person to ever live, ever humble himself & submit himself before others? If so how? Refer to John 13:6-17. Jesus committed the ultimate act of humility & submissiveness in biblical times by washing the feet of his disciples.

I don't believe that our Pres. should be criticized for showing respect to another human being. I am astonished that he is being criticized for a human act of decency & respect.
 
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Dave, in this I have to disagree with you. You can show respect in many ways. How we're handling this conversation for one. It's not that I'm condoning him being disrespectful to the Emperor. I'm not. It's his administration but its OUR office he's putting a public and international face to and you can be respectful without bowing. A simple smile, nod and a handshake has worked for eighty years from our president to other. I'm not asking for either to stand above the other in status, but to meet on equal footing and it's what the World and other cultures see in the bow as much as we see it.
 
Your right Bull. It is EXTREMELY important that we be courteous & respectful to one another whether we agree with one another or not. I was actually thinking about how strongly I worded my opinion this morning before I read your response & thought to myself that perhaps I left the impression that there is no room to have a different opinion on the subject. That is certainly not the case. Obviously we don't want our Pres. to be perceived as being weak & capable of being taken advantage of by our "enemies." Certainly one could construe/interpret bowing to an emperor as a sign of weakness. However, I don't see it that way obviously. I see it simply as a decent act of human respect, kindness & loving submission to another human being. If you choose to see it differenly that's OK. I believe he can be an affective strong leader whether he chooses to bow to an Emperor or does not. In essence I think it's making a mountain out of a molehill. I believe there are more important political issues we can debate rather than what I perceive to be a trivial issue. For example, should congress pass the proposed "Health Care Bill?" BTW It's common practice in Japan & customary that Japanese bow to one another as a form of greeting rather than a handshake. Perhaps the emperor bowed right back to the Prez., but the photographer for political reasons chose not to include that image or fact as part of the process of disclosing this particular photo.
 
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Dave, think about your statement....I have been to the Winners Circle...if memory serves me, it is a mechanics shop(you know as in repair). And furthermore I recall a lot of Chevy stuff laying around, not running.
Danny should be bowing to you.
 
:D
A Snake said:
Dave, think about your statement....I have been to the Winners Circle...if memory serves me, it is a mechanics shop(you know as in repair). And furthermore I recall a lot of Chevy stuff laying around, not running.
Danny should be bowing to you.
Click to expand...
WOW good zinger snake, that 1 goes to the top !!!:eek:
 
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