Send us victorious (Patriotism)

Member Name: yesidoo

Product:	Patriotism
Date:	20/10/01 (421 review reads)
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patriotism [páttri tiz m , páytri tiz m ] noun
national pride: pride in or devotion to the country somebody was born in or is a citizen of

Is it so wrong to be patriotic? I have just come back from America, where as you are all aware they have recently suffered a most horrendous terrorist attack. Whilst I was there, I felt privileged to be a part of this fantastic community. Everywhere we went we saw the American flag, on cars, on houses on pin badges, stickers, whole families wearing matching T-shirts with the flag on. Every restaurant we passed had ?God bless America? ?united we stand? on their bright flashing neon signs, usually reserved for advertising.

The sense of community, of togetherness was palpable and touching. Everyone there, whether a migrant, immigrant or born and bred united together to wish there country well. Whilst at the pool one day, I got talking to two young men from New York, both mixed race. We were discussing the recent troubles, and I mentioned to them how touched I was to see the unity and pride in their country, and how sad I felt that we didn?t have the same sense of community in the UK. As I spoke, I realised I was saying things out loud, that I had known for a long time, but saying them out loud made it seem to hit home suddenly.

They asked if the UK was as proud as they were. I answered without hesitation?NO. You see, it seems to me, that these days it?s politically incorrect to be proud to be British. The welsh are a fiercely proud nation, and good on them! The Scottish are proud, the Irish are proud, they revel in their languages, their heritage, their stereotypes and all with good humour too. The British though! That?s another story. I explained that to me, the George Cross has become over the years, something to be ashamed of. It has been used to signify so many bad things, such as football hooliganism, the National front. To me it seems almost rascist, and I would rather associate myself with t
he Union Jack, than with the George cross.

The young men seemed amazed that this could be true, as they said themselves ?but America has far more races than England? They thought of us as all white, with maybe a few blacks, or Asians, and that as a predominantly white land we would all stick together and feel united.

I felt ashamed that we as a country couldn?t be more united. I wondered, do we really need a calamity such as America has suffered to bring us back together? The last time the whole nation felt truly patriotic was in the 2nd world war, and after that possibly only in 1966 when England beat Germany in a football game.

Each morning at school, the Americans sing the national anthem to the USA flag. Every child knows there own Anthem. Does ANYONE in England know ours? I certainly don?t. The only time we ever sing it, if that can be the right word, is when we play football, and then we only sing, the first few lines. I mean who knows the rest? Where would you have learnt it from?

I wish we had the same sort of thing in our country. Where each and every child, no matter what race, creed or religion, sang to our flag. I don?t see why any child should be excluded from this because surely, living in this country you should be hoping for the best for this country, being united and wishing us all well. It has nothing to do with religion to be patriotic, and quite frankly, if you don?t want a sense of community in this country, then why live here? You see, even that tiny statement could in these days of heightened PC be deemed racist. I can quite honestly say, I have not got a single racist bone in my body, but why am I made to feel bad for saying something like this?

As a nation I feel that we are slowly being stripped of our identity to appease newcomers. I personally rejoice in our new society. I am proud to have Jews, Indians, Chinese, Africans and many more sewed in to our rich tapestry of life, but am I wrong t
o want these people to be proud of us too? I know that our country, looking back over the centuries has many things to be ashamed of, I also know, we have many things to be proud of. Show me a country that doesn?t have both pride and shame tied up in their Flag!

I am proud to be British, I am proud to be linked with Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. I am proud when England, or my Celtic counterparts win in a national football tournament. Why? I don?t know because I?m no big fan of football usually. I am proud when I think of our Language. Such a tiny nation as we are, and yet EVERY country can speak it, even if only a little. I am proud of our literature history, I am proud of our accents, I am proud of being me, and where I come from, I just wish all of the UK could feel it too, without feeling ashamed to be so.

Apart from jazzing up our national anthem a wee bit, we could do with a new anthem. An anthem that EVERYONE would be happy to sing. The Americans sing to thier flag, and to thier country, yet we sing about our Queen, and God. In this day and age, the meaning to many of us has become obsolete. Don't get me wrong, I wish the Queen good health, and if there is a god, I hope she (hey, hey, who said God as a he?) looks after Elizabeth as much as she looks after you or I, but we need an anthem that we can all aspire to.

Removing the religious and monarch associations from the national anthem would mean that EVERYONE despite their religions or political leanings could have pride in our country, and in our anthem.

Plus, we could make huge wonga if it got to the top ten!!! (don't laugh, it happens in America you know!)

God save our gracious Queen!
Long live our noble Queen!
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us,
God save the Queen.

Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour,
Long may she reign.
May she defend
our laws,
And give us ever cause,
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen.
O Lord our God arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall:
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix:
God save us all.

(last verse with thanks to RIC!)



UPDATE

Having thought about this opinion quite a bit since I wrote it, and reading and taking on board some of the comments, I thought I would add a few more thoughts to my opinion.

I have been giving a lot of thought to ?why? I am patriotic and to what extent I am. Comments and opinions that I have read from others for both sides of the argument have made me take a step back and give it some more thought. I was struck by a comment in my thread, which made me think twice about my opinion. At first, I felt maybe I was wrong to feel this way, or at least maybe I should rethink my values. Well, I did, and I have still come to the same conclusion as before.

There are many people who don?t feel a sense of national pride, or community. For many there, are good and just reasons. When I say lack of community spirit, I don?t necessarily mean everyone in the street being best friends, or going to rallies in support of our country or anything like that. I quite literally mean the spirit inside of us. To know that if the chips were down and push came to shove (and other clichés) would we fight for our country? Would we support our country?s mission?

It was in our parents and grandparents lifetime that we had to do just that. There were many people I?m sure who disagreed with the Second World War, and who don?t think we should have fought in it. There are many, I?m sure who must have felt angered that they were forced to sign up against their better judgement. But what would have happened if the majority had felt this way?

Technology has advanced our communications threshold almost
beyond recognition since then. We now have global communities, and therefore maybe this is why a lot of people lose, or never have a sense of nationalistic sympathy. Right now as I type, I am connected to Freeserve unlimited, and if I wanted to I could email anyone, anywhere in the world if I so wished for no more than the cost of my monthly bill. I could strike up a ?friendship? with anyone of these people. The people on our own doorstep become the strangers in our lives as their void is filled with these email friendships.

It is a good thing, and I hope will lead to more friendly relations with all countries in the world by breaking down these barriers, but I don?t think we should ever lose sight of our own country and it?s values. We may well not agree with everyone here, we may hate the government, we may disagree with many of it?s decisions, we may dislike many other things of the British way of life, we may even not particularly care for anyone in particular purely because they are British and may prefer to merit people on their characters rather than their nation. But let us not forget that we are a democracy. Many brave men and women in many different countries have fought for the very fact that you can have these thoughts.

You may not care for the piece of land on which you live, or for your fellow countrymen in day to day thoughts, but consider a world where Bin Laden, or Hitler and many other powerful fantasists could have their own way, and everything you ever cared for, or felt safe with suddenly changed.

It is worth ~IMHO to retain your sense of pride, or at least community, in your country for these very reasons. It is your base, where you bring your children up, and have the right to act more or less how you want to. Even though it is terribly un-political these days to think that way, or if you voice your fears/concerns/thoughts in general, you feel as though you get a polite little pat on the head and ?ahhh, isn?t that s
weet? type comments.

I know that I am grateful for my grandparents? generations? input all those years ago, so that I can live as I do without fear, and I hope that the time never comes again when the nation as a whole has to do that. But I also hope that should that time ever come, and our freedom, and rights are jeopardised that we would as a nation rally the troops so to speak, out of concern for our nation as a whole and our everyday life and values.

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