stolen from infojunkies

Putting patriotism in perspective
> > By Barbara Kingsolver
> >
> > My daughter came home from kindergarten and announced,
> > "Tomorrow we all have to wear red, white and blue."
> >
> > "Why?" I asked, trying not to sound wary.
> >
> > "For all the people that died when the airplanes hit
> > the buildings."
> >
> > I fear the sound of saber-rattling, dread that not
> > just my taxes but even my children are being dragged
> > to the cause of death in the wake of death. I asked
> > quietly, "Why not wear black, then? Why the colors of
> > the flag, what does that mean?"
> >
> > "It means we're a country. Just all people together."
> >
> > So we sent her to school in red, white and blue,
> > because it felt to her like something she could do to
> > help people who are hurting. And because my wise
> > husband put a hand on my arm and said, "You can't let
> > hateful people steal the flag from us."
> >
> > He didn't mean terrorists; he meant Americans. Like
> > the man who went on a rampage crying "I'm an American"
> > as he shot at foreign-born neighbors, killing a gentle
> > Sikh man in a turban and terrifying every
> > brown-skinned person I know.

> > Or the talk-radio hosts, who are viciously bullying a
> > handful of members of Congress. Rep. Barbara Lee,
> > D-Calif., cast the House's only vote against handing
> > over virtually unlimited war powers to one man that a
> > whole lot of us didn't vote for. As a consequence, so
> > many red-blooded Americans have now threatened to kill
> > her, she has to have additional bodyguards.
> >
> > Patriotism seems to be falling to whoever claims it
> > loudest, and we're left struggling to find a
> > definition in a clamor of reaction. This is what I'm
> > hearing: Patriotism opposes the lone representative of
> > democracy who was brave enough to vote her conscience
> > instead of following an angry mob. (Several others
> > have confessed they wanted to vote the same way, but
> > chickened out.)
> >
> > Patriotism threatens free speech with death. It is
> > infuriated by thoughtful hesitation, constructive
> > criticism of our leaders and pleas for peace. It
> > despises people of foreign birth who've spent years
> > learning our culture and contributing their talents to
> > our economy. It has specifically blamed homosexuals,
> > feminists and the American Civil Liberties Union.
> >
> > In other words, the American flag stands for
> > intimidation, censorship, violence, bigotry, sexism,
> > homophobia and shoving the Constitution through a
> > paper shredder? Who are we calling terrorists here?
> >
> > Outsiders can destroy airplanes and buildings, but it
> > is only we, the people, who have the power to demolish
> > our own ideals.
> >
> > It's a fact of our culture that the loudest mouths get
> > the most airplay, and the loudmouths are saying now
> > that in times of crisis it is treasonous to question
> > our leaders.
> >
> > Nonsense.
> >
> > That kind of thinking let fascism grow out of the
> > international depression of the 1930s. In critical
> > times, our leaders need most to be influenced by the
> > moderating force of dissent. That is the basis of
> > democracy, in sickness and in health, and especially
> > when national choices are difficult, and bear grave
> > consequences.
> >
> > It occurs to me that my patriotic duty is to recapture
> > my flag from the men now waving it in the name of
> > jingoism and censorship. This isn't easy for me. The
> > last time I looked at a flag with unambiguous pride, I
> > was 13. Right after that, Vietnam began teaching me
> > lessons in ambiguity, and the lessons have kept
> > coming.
> >
> > I've learned of things my government has done to the
> > world that made me direly ashamed. I've been further
> > alienated from my flag by people who waved it at me
> > declaring I should love it or leave it. I search my
> > soul and find I cannot love killing for any reason.
> > When I look at the flag, I see it illuminated by the
> > rocket's red glare.
> >
> > This is why the warmongers so easily gain the upper
> > hand in the patriot game:
> >
> > Our nation was established with a fight for
> > independence, so our iconography grew out of war.
> >
> > Our national anthem celebrates it; our language of
> > patriotism is inseparable from a battle cry.
> >
> > Our every military campaign is still launched with
> > phrases about men dying for the freedoms we hold dear,
> > even when this is impossible to square with reality.
> >
> > In the Persian Gulf War we rushed to the aid of
> > Kuwait, a monarchy in which women enjoyed
> > approximately the same rights as a 19th-century
> > American slave. The values we fought for and won there
> > are best understood, I think, by oil companies.
> > Meanwhile, a country of civilians was devastated, and
> > remains destroyed.
> >
> > Stating these realities does not violate the
> > principles of liberty, equality, and freedom of
> > speech; it exercises them, and by exercise we grow
> > stronger.
> >
> > I would like to stand up for my flag and wave it over
> > a few things I believe in, including but not limited
> > to the protection of dissenting points of view. After
> > 225 years, I vote to retire the rocket's red glare and
> > the bullet wound as obsolete symbols of Old Glory.
> >
> > We desperately need a new iconography of patriotism. I
> > propose we rip stripes of cloth from the uniforms of
> > public servants who rescued the injured and
> > panic-stricken, remaining at their post until it fell
> > down on them. The red glare of candles held in vigils
> > everywhere as peace-loving people pray for the
> > bereaved, and plead for compassion and restraint.
> >
> > The blood donated to the Red Cross. The stars of film
> > and theater and music who are using their influence to
> > raise money for recovery. The small hands of
> > schoolchildren collecting pennies, toothpaste, teddy
> > bears, anything they think might help the kids who've
> > lost their moms and dads.
> >
> > My town, Tucson, Ariz., has become famous for a simple
> > gesture in which some 8,000 people wearing red, white
> > or blue T-shirts assembled themselves in the shape of
> > a flag on a baseball field and had their photograph
> > taken from above. Our family stood in silence for a
> > minute looking at that photo of a human flag, trying
> > to know what to make of it.
> >
> > Then my teen-age daughter, who has a quick mind for
> > numbers and a sensitive heart, did an interesting
> > thing. She laid her hand over a quarter of the
> > picture, leaving visible more or less 6,000 people,
> > and said, "That many are dead."
> >
> > We stared at what that looked like-all those
> > innocent souls, multicolored and packed into a
> > conjoined destiny-and shuddered at the one simple
> > truth behind all the noise, which is that so many
> > beloved people have suddenly gone from us.
> >
> > That is my flag, and that's what it means: We're all
> > just people together.