----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any advice in this forum.]----
Greg, with all due respect to your eloquent prose, and I do respect your
full right to say it as I know you will respect my right to say what I
think of it, which is -- that it expresses in many ways what is wrong with
America today. If we continue down the road you would have us travel we
will not be one country in less than ten years. California and South
Florida will leave the Union to be Latin American countries. We see this
in
third world countries all over the world today and it is coming here and
now if we do not work very hard to fix it. America, love it or leave it!
Makes more sense than splinting up the country. Many fine people fought to
keep this country one about 140 years ago and if we are not careful we
will
do it again soon.
It is very important to refresh the patriotic feeling in the country and
to
remember that a child that is not taught good American English in our
schools is being deprived of his birthright to be able to travel to any
part of our country and find work that pleases him or her and live in
peace. If you can not speak, read and write American English you can not
get a real productive job in a lot of this country because the people who
would hire you can not communicate with you.
Enough for this soap box.
Best regards,
Vern
Greg Bullough
<[EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
h.org> cc:
Subject: Re: [COUPERS] [Fwd:
Fw: Fw: THIS IS
10/22/01 AMERICA!]
04:42 PM
Please
respond to
greg
----[Please read http://ercoupers.com/disclaimer.htm before following any
advice in this forum.]----
Bob:
I think that this 'I love America more than YOU love America' junk
has got to go. It does no good. We're all in this together, and we'd
better learn to tolerate the different ways in which our fellow citizens
choose to express their love of (and concern for) their country.
I see no conflict between being a loyal, indeed patriotic, American and
insisting that prayer to any particular deity be kept out of the public
schools, to respect our Constitution. Remember, our enemies
insist that the State-sponsored brand of religion that is taught
in schools and elsewhere.
I see no conflict between being a loyal, indeed patriotic, American and
not wanting to hear 'God Bless America' every five minutes. For a number
of us, the memory of that song is of a sad period in American history
where the country was torn apart by a government sending our children
to fight a war which the government refused to win.
I see no conflict between being a loyal, indeed patriotic, American and
not having journalists wearing red, white, and blue and sitting in front
of the flag while doing their jobs. A free and objective press is also
part of what makes America great. Preserving that is an act of
patriotism. Remember, our enemies have only State-sponsored
media.
I see no conflict between being a loyal, indeed patriotic, American and
not wanting to see endless displays of nationalism. Some people's
patriotism is quieter, more thoughtful, and indeed (dare I say it?)
more prayerful than that. Respect for each other's sensibilities
is part and parcel of what makes America great. I would submit
that we can show our unity as a nation without painting everything
in red, white, and blue. Some things, yes. Just not everything.
Indeed, we *need* those elements of society who continue to rally
for peace. They are what keep us (and I say us, because this go-round
I disagree with them) to keep us from our own tendency to excess.
They, too, are part of what keeps America great.
(The other day I was driving down the freeway when my car was
clobbered by red, white, and blue debris from some half-assed
flag arrangement that gave up the ghost in the Volvo in front of
me. It's only a matter of time until this patriotic zeal gets someone
killed, not in combat, but in some sort of lame-brain display.)
I'm disappointed that some individuals are using this sorrowful time to
dredge up their particular divisive brand of patriotism and to attempt
to once again shove this Archie Bunker-esqe 'America: Love it or
Leave It' stuff down the throats of their fellow citizens.
If you let the terrorists turn us into a society which is intolerant of
different views and sensibilities, then you have surrendered. Indeed,
you are working towards the objectives of the terrorists, who would
love to see a society where dissent is wiped out.
Greg
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