I didn't intend to start an argument(in an
already off-topic thread), because I enjoy this board a great deal(or else I'd be happy to respectfully ask what parts you disagreed with) and I like the folks on here. Instead, I offer this hopefully satisfactory explanation of why I felt it was important to write what I wrote.
It's ok to be a fan of
sports and their traditions, but we know darned well that those who sacrificed so much to give birth to this nation would be sickened to see blind fans of
the government, and societal traditions that in any manner empower it to operate unchecked. They continually warned us that if we were not vigilant, we would lose what they gave us. What we call "patriotism" today is a false and sickening replacement of the patriotism our founders displayed in word and deed, just as is the case with the
current state of many religions who in
practice are in opposition to the very
essence of the original teachings, regardless of how many links in the chain of progression/possession are made with good intent. This is where the danger of idol worship mentioned by the latter can become apparent.
I almost gutted my post a number of times, but in the end I dealt with my own inner conflict by doing what I thought and/or felt was right to honor both the fallen and the living. It wasn't that long ago I myself was on the other side of the fence. The fallen died "in defense of the Constitution"(from
all enemies, foreign
and domestic), and it would seem logical they would be more honored by those joining them in defense of the tattered Constitution rather than by those partaking of things that make
us feel good like parades, hot dogs, and beer. Those and other
traditions can be the tools of the politicians and other marketers, and it's obvious they work well.
There is nothing wrong with us feeling good by numbing our own brains if we choose to do so, but let us not do so at the expense of the very thing those we are supposedly honoring supposedly died defending. If we do so, we are fooling ourselves and disrespecting them and our nation. Before the revolution, patriots like Thomas Payne offended tradition and
wrote(fought on the most important battlefield of all), or this nation would not exist.
I'm not asking anyone to answer out loud, but is it wrong to consider in a little less shallow depth what these men, women, and children lost their
lives for? Recall on Christmas in WW1 that soldiers from both sides set aside their differences in one of the greatest displays of humanity in the history of modern warfare.
http://history1900s.about.com/od/1910s/a/christmastruce.htm Neither group of soldiers were the "bad guys"(or more different than alike) for doing what they believed was right(those who were engineered the beginning of the war were the evil men), or were forced to do by draft. My grandfather was in WW2, and I respect him for doing what he thought was right. Like a tiny version of Payne(and to others a pain), I made a choice that I hope will both honor the dead and the spirit in which they fought, and maybe in some small way help contribute to preventing more of the
living from joining them. After all, the first inalienable right our founders listed above all others was the right to
life, without which the others would not exist. If you can read all of this and somehow consider it in poor taste(or spirit), that is
your right also, and I sincerely respect it and you for doing what you think/feel is right.
