We had our Memorial Day Assembly last friday. The band play, the chorus sing, teachers read poems, the junior air force had a color guard that presented the flag. It was your pretty typical ceremony. But it really got me thinking. I live in a relatively unpatriotic state. There aren't many kids I know who are proud to be American. People who say the pledge of allegiance are often scoffed at. But why is that? Since when is it a crime to love your country? There are so many teachers and parents that tell of how different things were when they were kids, how people actually took pride in being American. During our commemoration, I realized that, maybe I don't agree with everything that my country has done, maybe it really frustrates me at times, but it is still my country. There have been people who have given their lives to defend what I have, the least I can do is to pause and appreciate them. So no matter where you live in the world, please stop some time today and think about those who have come before you.
Quick fact: In America, if all else fails, if our army, navy, national guard and everything else goes down, the boy scouts are the last line of defense. It sure makes me think about them differently. I mean, these are our little brothers who go camping and tie knots.
3 comments:
About the boy scout thing, I actually find that a little scary. Apparently, boy scouts are now being trained to attack terrorists. This is really not good. at all. If a terrorist hijacks a plane, the last thing people would need is a teenager thinking he is equipped to handle it and getting killed.
sorry. that was a bit of a rant, I just read about it in the newspaper and then it tied in....lol.
I totally agree. But more scary, I find it sad. This is what we're teaching our little boys?
Also, for all the feminists out there, (Most of us I'm sure) the law about boy scouts being last line of defense and not including girls is left over from a different time period and no one bothered to change it.
Emma, I had kind of a tough day yesterday and this post just made me smile :) You put into words my beliefs exactly, although I guess coming from a more conservative family, I've always been patriotic (not to say that only conservatives are patriotic!) Anyway, this post was just amazing to me. I loved it. I live in Massachusetts, which is, like your state, relatively unpatriotic (at least in Eastern Mass), and I can't explain it, it just meant so much to me what you wrote; it kind of reaffirmed my faith in everyone. When you brought up this topic, it made me think of a few months ago, when I posted a comment on the New Moon website, responding to a girl who said that she was finally proud to be an American now that Obama was president. I think it would be appropriate for this discussion. Here's what I wrote (as you can see, it's from a few months ago):
"I respect your opinion, but I am proud to be an American not based on who my president may be, but based on the ideals and values that this country stands for. I think that we can be proud of our country even when we disagree with some things the government does. For instance, there are many people in countries all over the world who are proud to be their nationality, even if they don't like their leaders (example: you can be proud to be Iranian even if you completely abhor the actions of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad). Being proud of your country isn't necessarily being proud of your leaders, but being proud of what your country stands for. Maybe you're against the war in Iraq, or you're against the Wall Street bailout, but whatever party you support (or if you don't support a party, too) and whatever your views may be, I believe we should be proud to live in a country with ideals and values as strong as those of the United States. If you said something negative about George W. Bush, you wouldn't be punished for it, but that could happen in, say, North Korea! Shouldn't we be proud that we live in a country where it's okay to publicly disagree with the government? I agree with some of Barack Obama's views and I disagree with some of his views, but that has absolutely no bearing on my pride for my country. Granted, we've made some terrible mistakes in the past (slavery, the Japanese internment camps, etc. etc.) that we most definitely should not be proud of, but today, we have so many rights in this country and so many opportunities. We still have things to work on, and that's okay, but if we lose faith in our country, we'll get nowhere. I'm curious, though; why is it that you weren't proud to be an American before?"
I also want to reiterate what you said about appreciating our fallen soldiers. My uncle is in the Air Force on active duty. Right now he's working desk jobs, but he's been in Iraq twice and Afghanistan once. I am unbelievably proud of him. I think it is so important to support the troops even if you don't support a war. I can't imagine what it would be like, but I am so grateful for our military. THANK YOU!
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