Thanks, Jeff, for your words of wisdom and understanding.
Holman
>On Thu, Sep 13, 2001 at 10:20:42PM -0400, R. Hotchkiss wrote:
>> [...]
>> Put your flag out now so that someday we'll be able to have a truly peace
>> loving country and world.
>
>I agree with Margie, but would like to add the following:
>
>I have noticed that patriotism is often viewed as compulsory in the
>U.S. Compulsory patriotism is not patriotism.
>
>For a patriotic sentiment to have value, it must be voluntary, and the
>only way it can truly be voluntary is to accept its absence without
>judgement. Different people express national pride in different ways
>and for different reasons. If the people of our neighborhood choose
>not to fly flags, that is their choice. We shouldn't conclude that
>they are less patriotic because of it.
>
>Does this mean there is no such thing as patriotism? It might.
>
>But when Americans talk about ours as the greatest and most
>compassionate democracy ever to grace the planet (someone's quote on
>CNN this week), I conclude only that they have not traveled or read
>very much. When someone talks about all-American this or that, I feel
>racism, because I don't know what qualities an all-American something
>has, but it seems to be ad hoc in ways that would be impolite to
>specify. (Can a black boy in a wheel chair be all-American?)
>
>And when people tell me I should fly flags, I feel traces of the thing
>that in more concentrated form gave us McCarthyism. I feel I am being
>judged on the quality of my expression of my citizenship and feelings
>of national belonging by people who don't know me.
>
>I don't have any beef with people flying flags. I just bristle when
>it's proposed that doing otherwise is wrong. That's not indicative of
>a really free society.
>
>-Jeff Abrahamson
>
>
>> > --On Thursday, September 13, 2001 5:14 PM -0400 Margie Politzer
>> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>> >
>> > ....
>> > > strengthen our alienation. Until now, we have been spared
>>serious acts of
>> > > terrorism. But now, we no longer feel omnipotent and can perhaps have
>> > > more of an understanding of people in other nations' feelings of
>> > > vulnerability. I think this is a time for us to start thinking of
>> > > ourselves as citizens of the world (if we haven't already done so).
>> > >
>> > > Margie Politzer
>
>--
> Jeff
>
> Jeff Abrahamson <http://www.purple.com/jeff/>
>
>
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--
Holman C. Massey, Jr., PhD
Department of Pathobiology
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
3800 Spruce Street, Room 430
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6008
Telephone: 215-573-4756
FAX: 215-573-7023
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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