(08-22-2021, 09:28 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: So, if you all will indulge me, and stop the food fight for a few posts, I have an honest question with no hidden agenda.  And here it is:

What exactly do you mean if you say you are "proud to be an American?" 

I love this country.  I'm damn glad I was born here and live here.  I wouldn't live anywhere else.  Taken as a whole, it's the best place on earth.  But I wouldn't use the word "proud" because I didn't have anything to do with it.  I wasn't born here on purpose.  I'm not one of the founding fathers.  They're the ones that should be proud.  So should all the people who died defending this country.  They should be proud. 

I'm proud of my own accomplishments, in a way.  But I didn't cause myself to be born in the United States.  That was just luck. 

So what does it mean to you when you say you are "proud to be an American?"

I am proud to be privileged enough to have been born here.

I am proud to have the opportunity to chart my own path in life.

I am proud that I (as well as anyone else) is free to practice any religion of my choosing or not practice one at all.

I am proud that I can "come and go" as I please within my city, state and country with no special "papers" or having to go through "checkpoints" that monitor my movements.

I am proud that my fellow citizens fought and worked so hard to give us our freedom over our country's short age.

I am proud that my fellow citizens put a man on the moon, developed the technology that we enjoy today and evolved the way that we did.

I am proud that I wore the uniform of the United States Navy and served honorably.

I could go on-and-on.  Really, what kind of question is this that really questions somebody's patriotism?

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