Thursday, February 26, 2015

So, About "Loving America"...

It is amusing to hear right wingers talk about whether someone has a sufficient love of America. I am almost 67 years old now, and no one has yet defined what that means in a satisfactory way. (Let's leave aside the curious fact that the Right seems to prefer that thrice-married adulterers pass judgment on the character and values of other people. [Sorry, Dinesh D'Souza, but you have an adultery or two to go before you qualify as such a spokesperson.])

But since the Right seems to be teeming with Constitutional scholars, and since those scholars believe that something is worthy only if it's explicitly in the Constitution, you'd think that they would disapprove of such talk. There is no Constitutional requirement to love America. So those of us who believe flag burning is okay should be left alone.

And for the Religious Right...There also isn't a biblical mandate to love America. There is a clear teaching to respect and honor government. But love your country? Not so much. Indeed, one could more easily make the case that American Exceptionalism is a form of idolatry.

So, even if all those constitutional scholars and Religious Right folks could come up with an actual working definition of "loving America"--other than wearing a flag lapel pin and hating Muslims--their own sacred documents contradict their efforts.




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