curtism1234
AH elite
Divernhunter,
I do unfortunately agree national pride in this country comes in waves and it is much lower than it should be. Personally, I think the lack of political bipartisanship and state of the economy for the working/middle class is presently to blame; and until that gets fixed, we will continue to see national pride quite low. We are also in an age where technology makes one more self-sufficient and anti-social; that I'm not sure how is going to be fixed. I don't think saying the Pledge everyday is a direct solution because it does not coincide with my view of the problem. Make no mistake about it, the Pledge and Anthem should be a regular part of school but I do worry a bit of it just being used methodically and having the meaning taken away. After all, I went to a Catholic grade school and church 6 times a week. As a result, I haven't stepped in a church outside of a funeral or wedding in 20 years.
To be clear, in no way am I anti-pledge; there just so happens to be pros and cons to everything in life and I think it's important to recognize both before making decisions.
To my original points,
I fully agree, people should respect the anthem at games or at the bare minimum have the respect to stand quietly. Through observation, do I think people's heads and hearts are in the National Anthem at games, no I don't. Now no doubt there are very strong nationalists at games, but there is also a TON of horseplay (especially when the anthem is played immediately before the game). Now opposite of that is how our MLB team does the anthem 30-40 minutes before the game when maybe 10% of the fans are in their seats. I think certainly that is the wrong format for it too.
So back to my original thought - if we're going to do it wrong, we might as well not do it. I can see how that has a facetious tone though.
My other original point of veteran support - because I especially feel it needs to be cleared up. I absolutely respect the lives, limbs, and minds that are sacrificed by members and families of the military. But don't anyone think standing there at a game applauding a vet is fully doing one's part in supporting our victims of warfare because that falls way short. As I see it, that is what is happening.
This did take half of my day working on this piece by piece so I'm probably going to have to leave it at that. But a good respectful discussion, and I thank you for that.
I do unfortunately agree national pride in this country comes in waves and it is much lower than it should be. Personally, I think the lack of political bipartisanship and state of the economy for the working/middle class is presently to blame; and until that gets fixed, we will continue to see national pride quite low. We are also in an age where technology makes one more self-sufficient and anti-social; that I'm not sure how is going to be fixed. I don't think saying the Pledge everyday is a direct solution because it does not coincide with my view of the problem. Make no mistake about it, the Pledge and Anthem should be a regular part of school but I do worry a bit of it just being used methodically and having the meaning taken away. After all, I went to a Catholic grade school and church 6 times a week. As a result, I haven't stepped in a church outside of a funeral or wedding in 20 years.
To be clear, in no way am I anti-pledge; there just so happens to be pros and cons to everything in life and I think it's important to recognize both before making decisions.
To my original points,
I fully agree, people should respect the anthem at games or at the bare minimum have the respect to stand quietly. Through observation, do I think people's heads and hearts are in the National Anthem at games, no I don't. Now no doubt there are very strong nationalists at games, but there is also a TON of horseplay (especially when the anthem is played immediately before the game). Now opposite of that is how our MLB team does the anthem 30-40 minutes before the game when maybe 10% of the fans are in their seats. I think certainly that is the wrong format for it too.
So back to my original thought - if we're going to do it wrong, we might as well not do it. I can see how that has a facetious tone though.
My other original point of veteran support - because I especially feel it needs to be cleared up. I absolutely respect the lives, limbs, and minds that are sacrificed by members and families of the military. But don't anyone think standing there at a game applauding a vet is fully doing one's part in supporting our victims of warfare because that falls way short. As I see it, that is what is happening.
This did take half of my day working on this piece by piece so I'm probably going to have to leave it at that. But a good respectful discussion, and I thank you for that.
