Morning Joe said he knew he was inviting snarky and hate filled comments. But he asked the fans on Instagram anyway;
"Why are you proud to be an American?"
I hate questions such as this. ...... Umm, I guess I just flat out hate the word "Proud". It is a word of worthless meaning usually and is often carelessly used in inappropriate situations. It is a word that can incite and lie. "Pride goeth before the fall" is a tried and true passage from Proverbs that indicates we should all be careful when using it in any way. We puff up our chests too much, we are often setting ourselves up for a huge letdown.
No better example of the danger of pride exists than when we use it in a nationalistic and chauvinist way like we do on July 4th; especially the last so many July 4ths since 9-11. It seems to me many of our country's citizens have decided that over the top exhibitions of pride in one's country determines how much one loves the USA.
Personally I do my best to not feel pride in myself. What pride I exhibit is aimed at individuals, friends, and family who have done something I feel they deserve my feeling of pride for them. As to Joe's question about being proud to be an American, well, pride has nothing to do with my feelings about my country. I love my country and that is enough. Being proud only invites trouble.
Have a Happy Fourth and watch those fingers ..............................................
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Now what music choice? An obvious selection would be a rousing tune from John Phillips Sousa. And today I feel obvious. Please enjoy and turn it up to wow, "The Stars and Stripes Forever". A proud song if ever I heard one. ...... Stick with it at least until the piccolo solo. Those girls rock!
5 comments:
The MAGAts and RWNJs have done a decent job of turning thinking people into questioning whether or not there's anything about the U.S.A. that merits pride. One of the things that we used to be able to brag about was freedom of expression and the right to debate issues and work out compromises instead of resorting to violence. Not anymore.
Possibly one only thing that christians say right, as when they chanting "Pride is the one unbeatable sin, root of em all".
But well, they than have pride in being christians, so go figure.
Not much independence to celebrate when half the population lost theirs and the other half will lose theirs shortly thanks to SCOTUS.
As to Christianity and Pride, I had an acquaintance on FB tell em he was proud to tell people he was a Christian. That comment told me what kind of Christian he was and it is one I want nothing to do with
not so proud any more..
There's not much to be proud of anymore.
Also can we get rid of the Flag Fetish.
And finally, not every holiday has to be about thanking the troops and veterans. There are days set aside for that!
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