Hypocrisy and Our Great Nation

I feel the same about patriotism as I do about religion. It seems full of hypocrisy and fallacies.  Religion is brimming with mythology and misinterpretations and so are the commonly accepted ideas about the founding of “this great nation”.

There’s nothing like growing up in a commune to illustrate all the bold faced lies in religion, how it’s used to control and manipulate others and even to profit financially from. I turned completely away from religion, I would say about 5  years ago when I realized that any pretense on my part to believe there was some omniscient being micromanaging people’s lives and making judgment  on right and wrong was ridiculous. I just didn’t believe it; the white Christian theology we are fed from the cradle does not reflect the true diversity that is represented on our planet earth.  It is a narrow and condescending belief system that when closely examined by a critical mind cannot hold up to scrutiny.

This is also how I feel about patriotism; we are saturated by images of the mighty “Red White and Blue” and fed false ideas about how “Free” we are. I find many of these beliefs false. We are governed by a somewhat heavy handed government; we eat drink and sleep what our mighty democracy feeds us. When we speak as a people it takes a herculean effort to be heard over the influence of the all mighty dollar, and white male Christianity.

White Christian America and everything that goes with it, is offensive to me, and I'm sure my views will be offensive to many of you.

But consider who really built this country. It was the determination of a few souls fleeing their homelands seeking FREEDOM from condemnation; they fought tooth and nail to scratch out an existence for their belief in freedom. It was the First Nations, making sacrifices of their own freedom and their way of life. Suffering the humiliation and heartbreak of having their land and culture raped. It was on the backs of all the immigrants who came here seeking freedom. The struggle of the Chinese, Irish, Spanish, Mexicans, Africans and Jews. All of these vastly different cultures poured into one nation, with the same goal, to live free, to be free to believe and live how they see fit.

So reflecting on this I see America as needing to go a long way yet to meet its goal of true freedom. When we have erased bigotry against gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation, when we no longer have laws polluted with religious ideals, when we are really free to live without condemnation and our voices are heard over and above the clamor of the dollar, then I will we patriotic.   

And before I receive a lambasting for being critical of our Great Nation, please know, yes I am grateful for being here, and not in a country where suppression of human rights are even more egregious and abused.  I am simply stating my opinion on where we are, and where we need to go. Thank the universe I am free to write this.

Happy 4^th whatever that means to you.