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Post #1102824

Author
Puggo - Jar Jar's Yoda
Parent topic
Politics 2: Electric Boogaloo
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1102824/action/topic#1102824
Date created
29-Aug-2017, 11:22 AM

Browsing Wikipedia, I see that there are many national emblems - a flag (1777), a seal (1782), a bird (1782), a mammal (2016), a motto (1956), an anthem (1931), a flower (1986), a march (1987), and a tree (2004). It’s nice having symbols like this, but the concept that they then become sacred objects with proscribed rituals, which when disobeyed brand the miscreant “unpatriotic”, or even a traitor, harkens back to ancient heraldic ways. I’m reminded of the peasant scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when Arthur tells the peasant: “The Lady of the Lake, her arm clad in the purest shimmering samite, held aloft Excalibur from the bosom of the water signifying by Divine Providence that I, Arthur, was to carry Excalibur. That is why I am your king!” To which the peasant responds: “Well you can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just 'cause some watery tart threw a sword at you!”

I prefer thinking of honest efforts towards improving the country to be patriotic acts. When major human rights changes are enacted, hindsight/history often treats the early NON-VIOLENT protesters much better than the scorn with which they were treated at the time (see Time Magazine’s Top 10 nonviolent protests for some examples). In my opinion, taking a knee and still facing the flag during the anthem seems quite a respectful mode of protest, especially when compared to, say, turning one’s back on the flag. I think that history will treat it well, and that the vitriol exhibited towards it will appear childish years from now.

Furthermore, I’m not all that impressed by some of the emblems. “In God We Trust” is hardly an appropriate emblem for a nation touting separation of church and state. Am I unpatriotic for suggestion this? I just want the best for my country. Benjamin Franklin himself expressed regret for the choice of the Bald Eagle. If members of an alleged free state are vilified for questioning its symbols, or for utilizing symbolic acts to make important points of contention with how the country is run, then perhaps the freedom has room for improvement.