I believe American values are those upon which the country was founded and which are written in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution.
Freedom of speech (and I don't mean freedom of speech in English only), religion, and the press, the right to speak one's mind and act on one's own conscience and to choose to worship or not worship without the fear of persecution or proselytization from others, and without fear of persecution or discrimination because of my race or culture.
American values include freedom from tyranny and oppression, a right for citizens to participate in government, and be free from arbitrary searches, arrests, and free from sentencing without a fair trial in a jury of my peers.
I believe in the American values of everybody having the same rights and being held to the same standards, and no one being discriminated, excluded, or deprived of rights based on religion, ethnicity, race, gender, etc. Everyone being held to the same standard of human worth and dignity.
I believe in a sense of civil duty as an American, as the citizen's duty to protect the freedom and rights guarunteed by the state. I believe that a citizen should participate in the political process by at least voting, serve in jury duty, spend at least some time doing volunteer and charity work, and to defend the country from enemies if called upon. (defend being key, as I most assuredly don't support that Iraq mess though I agreed with the Afghanistan campaign)
I believe America was built up by peoples from many parts of the world, and one of the country's greatest strengths and points of pride was in its openness and accepting the poor, the persecuted, the destitute, the minorities of the world and by welcoming their contributions, allowed them to add to and enrich the tapestry that is American culture. I believe that the US was and still is a place of oppurtunity, and that anyone, even the poorest of the poor, can, through hard work, education, and ingenuity, succeed in the US, as this is something I've witness firsthand in my own family (who were immigrants). Here's a poem from the Statue of Liberty which I believe represents such American values.
Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Of American values, I assuredly do not believe them to be "Traditional European Christian cultural outlook", but then again, I'm biased, as I'm American yet none of those. And of course, I'm highly suspicious when I hear people trying to "protect" me from things they don't want seen or read, in the name of defending "traditional American values". And of course, I believe that the values underlying patriotism are far more important than just blind patriotism itself, so you don't find me ra-ra-ra-ing madly with the US flag against the French.
