it is tough to be the black sheep.
i just got the following forward from my grandmother, sent to the entire clan. aside from perhaps one of my cousins, i am probably the only voice on that list who disagrees with what i was sent. i won’t hit the “reply to all” button, so instead you get my rant.
TO THOSE WHO CARE AND THOSE THAT BELIEVE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA–GOD BLESS THE USA….
SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT. I think everyone on this planet needs to read this. The thoughts are pure and we all understand the point….
There are a few things that those who have recently come to our country, and apparently some native Americans, need to understand.
First of all, it is not our responsibility to continually try not to offend you in any way. This idea of America being a multicultural community has served only to dilute our sovereignty and our national identity.
As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language, and our own lifestyle. This culture, called the “American Way” has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
Our forefathers fought, bled, and died at places such as Bunker Hill, Antitank, San Juan, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Vietnam…
We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society — learn our language!”
In God We Trust” is our national motto. This is not some off-the-wall, Christian, Right Wing, political slogan – it is our national motto. It is engraved in stone in the House of Representatives in our Capitol and it is printed on our currency. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation and this is clearly documented throughout our history. If it is appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our highest level of Government, then it is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools.
God is in our pledge, our National Anthem, nearly every patriotic song, and in our founding documents. We honor His birth, death, and resurrection as holidays, and we turn to Him in prayer in times of crisis. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture and we are proud to have Him.
We are proud of our heritage and those who have so honorably defended our freedoms. We celebrate Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Flag Day. We have parades, picnics, and barbecues where we proudly wave our flag.
As an American, I have the right wave my flag, sing my national anthem, quote my national motto, and recite my pledge whenever and wherever I choose If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don’t like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.
The American culture is our way of life, our heritage, and we are proud of it We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don’t care how you did things where you came from Like it or not, this is our country, our land, and our lifestyle.
Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion about our government, culture, or society, and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you to take advantage of one other great American freedom:
THE RIGHT TO LEAVE!
Another thing: To those who do complain about the usage of words like ‘God’ and ‘American’ and speaking the language of our great nation,
TRY GOING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY AND SPEAK AGAINST WHAT YOU DON’T LIKE. YOU WILL MORE THAN LIKELY END UP JAILED OR EVEN KILLED.
In America, you take your right to complain for granted. The more patriotism that is removed from where our children are taught, the less our children will learn about what it is to be an American and our nation’s spirit will slowly be killed.Keep patriotism alive.
If you agree, pass this on to other Americans! It is time to take a stand!
God Bless America and our Military and our Veterans!
it is infuriating beyond my ability to communiacte to consider the ramifications of thinking like this. in all deference to my grandmother, she lost friends, family, and parts of a son to wars fought by this country. she has a right to be a proud patriot, and, strong in her faith, supportive of the president she voted for. the one who she believes will heal the divide between her beloved country and the faith she believes in.
that being said, the commentary makes me irate. the linguistic arrogance, and inferred shot at Native Americans (whose cause is really the only bleeding heart one I believe in outside of gender/pregnancy-based issues), combined with the fundamentalist (albeit “common sense”) outlook espoused in concern to separation of church and state really make me green in the gills. i think rampant liberalism is just as bad, if not worse, than rampant conservatism. i tend to get much more antsy about the agenda of the religious right, mostly because i have never seen or read about a bunch of hippies having an inquisition. we’ve all read about what happens when politics and godhead are in bed together.
i admit forthwith that i am not a traditional patriot. i believe in the ideas this country was conceived on, not the failed abortion it has become. however, i feel that way about most of post-agrarian human culture, so i guess that makes me less of an anti-patriot and more of an anti-civilizationist.
how do any of you, fine readers, deal with the situation of being a rather polarized outsider in the viewfinders of your loved ones? i can deal with differences of intellectual matters, and even moralistic ones. the godhead is tough to tackle, and politics even more impossible. “freedom of thought” in these peoples’ heads translates roughly to “the freedom to think what you are taught, question little, if at all, and accept any answers you get – forever and ever, amen”.
yeah, that is me, the fucking wordy heretic barbarian.
in other news, L. researched and bought tickets to “Belly of a Drunken Piano“, which we saw last night.
ATTENTION TOM WAITS FANS
see this show. no, really, do so. it is totally worth it. if the guy had played another hour or two , i would have stayed happily, sung along hearitly, and had another manhattan. highly reccomended for that particular audience who did not get a chance to see tom live.
so does
be sure to wish a hootie-hoo to
i’m off to meet