Patrioism

So I was going somewhere the other day and I started to think about the Bush years and all the things that have been told were bad. Basically we were told to not question the government or we are unpatriotic. This angers me. What good is freedom if the government can just do whatever it wants to do? Now I should back up a little. I'm not a fan of conspiracies. I don't think the government is out to get all of us. But I do believe it's good to ask questions.

How is asking a question being unpatriotic? Using the freedoms that many people have fought and died for is the most patriotic you can do. The soldiers fighting around the world are fighting for my right to question things and also to protest what does not seem right to me. To not do this is doing these soldiers a disservice. The soldiers doing their jobs do deserve our utmost respect, though. They are putting their lives on the line and not earning anywhere near what they deserve for doing it. To take away any freedom they are fighting for is as bad as kicking them in the face.

One of the most obvious examples of a freedom many have attempted to limit is the idea that you can't burn the American flag. The flag itself stands for the right to burn it. This again is something that soldiers have fought for over the years, maybe not directly, but it's a freedom that's always been there and should always be there. The flag is a symbol - nothing more. Burning it does not take away any rights or directly harm anyone. While I wouldn't personally burn a flag - I'm not against someone else doing it.

This made me think of a bit Penn and Teller did on their Showtime series - and also on The West Wing. In this video they burn a flag to prove the point that the country is still here and our rights are still there. The burning of the flag didn't destroy anything. But I'll just post the video - Penn explains himself better than I ever could.

Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF2iX2VG6e4

There really isn't anything more I can add to what Penn says.