9/11/07
When I think of my country, I think of the men and women who said they’d rather do without their tea, without their luxuries, without their necessities and even their lives if they didn’t have a fair say in the way they were treated. I think of the indictment of a terrible tyrant, and the subsequent declaration that this republic would stand apart from tyranny and religious oppression. I think of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
That said, we do not have a yellow ribbon on our vehicle, because I am the type of person who would rather send care packages overseas than buy a magnet. I am not the sort of person who plaster the truck or my clothes with the flag like it’s another designer brand.
I registered to vote the morning of my eighteenth birthday. I actively take part in our government as a concerned citizen. But I absolutely disagree with our nation’s current public and foreign policy, and I sat in a bathroom stall at work today and wept for what happened six years ago, and the subsequent mess.
I do not feel the need to prove my patriotism, nor do I feel that putting a sticker on your car dissolves anyone of any further civic duty. I would rather feed a mouth than wave a flag. I love my country, but hold no love for our president or his agenda. You CAN love your country when you’re not very proud of it, just as I know you can love someone who makes maddeningly bad choices.
I am thankful to know so many thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate people who are serving our country in various ways, just as I am thankful to know so many who fully embrace the concept of citizenship. I am just disgusted that those of us who don’t ascribe to a somewhat nationalist sect of patriotism are seen as unpatriotic, or that we have somehow forgotten 9/11.
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