So, I'm anti-American.
I am tired of people getting called "anti-American" for saying negative things about our country and disagreeing with the way in which it is being led. Tell me, please, how voicing my opinion is being "anti-American." I really want to know.
I have always been under the impression that in America we have the right to say whatever we think or believe. That we, in fact, hold this right as one of the most important and traditionally American rights one can have. I have always believed that one of the rights this country's forefathers made sure to establish in this new country, this new government, is the right to criticize our government without fear of persecution, like they had to deal with while under the rule of England. Please, correct me if I am wrong, because there is always that possibility.
What is anti-American about speaking out against actions and beliefs that you are against and that you think are wrong? What is anti-American about pointing out the faults of our government, which is supposed to be representing us, the people. What is anti-American about speaking your own opinion, whether it is right or wrong, persuasive or annoying? Please, enlighten me.
Yes, there are people who take advantage of this right. There are people who I /wish/ would shut up and leave their opinions at home. But I respect their right to voice their opinions and their thoughts. I might vocally disagree with them. I might ignore them. I might complain to someone else. But I don't reject their right to speak. They might make me sad or angry or shaking with a tumult of different emotions. But I don't physically react towards them.
I do not forsake their right to say these things. Because if I did, I would be allowing for this right to be trampled on, to be abolished. I would be forfeiting my own right to speak freely. I love and cherish my right to speak my mind and exercise it regularly. I do not want this right to be taken away. I do not want this right to be taken away from others.
I show my love and my patriotism for this country in many ways. One of them is to speak up on matters that I think need to be changed. This country is run by humans. It is not infallible. It is not 100% perfect. There are things that have been changed, that are being changed, and that need to be changed. Why is it anti-American to point these things out?
/end rant
I have always been under the impression that in America we have the right to say whatever we think or believe. That we, in fact, hold this right as one of the most important and traditionally American rights one can have. I have always believed that one of the rights this country's forefathers made sure to establish in this new country, this new government, is the right to criticize our government without fear of persecution, like they had to deal with while under the rule of England. Please, correct me if I am wrong, because there is always that possibility.
What is anti-American about speaking out against actions and beliefs that you are against and that you think are wrong? What is anti-American about pointing out the faults of our government, which is supposed to be representing us, the people. What is anti-American about speaking your own opinion, whether it is right or wrong, persuasive or annoying? Please, enlighten me.
Yes, there are people who take advantage of this right. There are people who I /wish/ would shut up and leave their opinions at home. But I respect their right to voice their opinions and their thoughts. I might vocally disagree with them. I might ignore them. I might complain to someone else. But I don't reject their right to speak. They might make me sad or angry or shaking with a tumult of different emotions. But I don't physically react towards them.
I do not forsake their right to say these things. Because if I did, I would be allowing for this right to be trampled on, to be abolished. I would be forfeiting my own right to speak freely. I love and cherish my right to speak my mind and exercise it regularly. I do not want this right to be taken away. I do not want this right to be taken away from others.
I show my love and my patriotism for this country in many ways. One of them is to speak up on matters that I think need to be changed. This country is run by humans. It is not infallible. It is not 100% perfect. There are things that have been changed, that are being changed, and that need to be changed. Why is it anti-American to point these things out?
/end rant
posted by Remadi at
6:26 PM
1 Comments:
It's not at all Anti-American. In fact, I think voicing your dissent is one of the most patriotic things you can do. To say you agree with your government is all well and good if you do, but to pay attention and look for things you disagree with and then to vocally point them out to others is a way to keep government honest (as honest as any government could be, that is, since by its nature it is but a necessary evil, so says Thomas Paine) and I think should be taken on as a patriotic duty. Some might say that this makes Americans weak in the eyes of her enemies, since they don't allow dissent among their populations (I'm thinking of totalitarian governments that scorn and laugh at us). But this is simply because they fear this kind of dissent and do not understand the power in it. A government which can take dissent among its citizens, which can take direct and loud criticism and adapt and reform itself to improve based on the dissent, that is the government that lasts and those are the people who are free. So you go, girl! Scream from the roof tops if you want to... And those who yell "traitor" back? Well, they're just making it easier for the rest of us to know who the real traitors are, aren't they?
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