Love it or leave it

It seems according to some conservatives that if you don’t like the pledge of allegiance, then in actuality you don’t like the United States and are better off just leaving. The "love it or leave it" mentality seems quite strong among these patriotic hypocrites.

The biggest problem with the "love it or leave it" position is how it basically says that you should accept the country however it currently is. Complaining about the current state of affairs in the United States tends to bring out this mentality in quite a few people as well. So let’s get one thing straight: being the best does not mean you cannot be better to ensure you stay the best. After all, even world record holders keep trying to break their previous records.

This mentality was seen quite well in response to a series of videos by YouTube user PaulsEgo (here, here, and here) in which he talks about how he is ashamed to be an American. I suggest you watch them to get a feel for what he’s talking about.

There are many ways the United States falls short of other countries in the world. When it comes to social freedoms, we are far, far behind Europe though fiscally we’ve surpassed the rest of the world on spending.1Government budget by country. (2011, August 30). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 07:18, September 12, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Government_budget_by_country&oldid=447545851 Since we can be better, we should become better, and we should strive to become better.

I, for one, won’t give up on trying to make this country better. And becoming better starts by expanding the liberties and freedoms accorded to Americans by repealing the laws that infringe upon those liberties by design. Yes in many ways Europeans have more freedom than Americans ā€“ imagine that!

So until that changes, I will not stop criticizing the United States of America. Nor will I stop criticizing and demonizing the pledge of allegiance for what it really is: patriotic idolatry.

And I’m not going anywhere, either.

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Related posts on the pledge:

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