Paranoid

Some people have a lot of faith in our government. I'm not one of them.

Here are some everyday events that normal Americans are either excited about or in which they take comfort:

1) Flyovers by military aircraft at sporting events. When F-16s fly in formation over some baseball game, most Americans think that these flyovers are cool, or they elicit some patriotic zeal, or think this demonstrates how innocuous our military is to ordinary Americans.

I find them tedious and a sign that we, as a nation, are militaristic at our core. I also suspect that they are a demonstration of might and try to scare the rebellious sort. I wonder if they are taking pictures of the crowd as they flyover.

2) ROTC in college campuses. Lots of Americans believe there should be compulsory national service to instill a sense of country, patriotism, and believing in something bigger than themselves. ROTC is designed to build up leaders within our military and ensure that the best and brightest receive officer positions.

I have been to a number of countries where civil strife started in the universities. Many universities in the last 50 years have been hotbeds of communist, anarchistic, and/or anti-corruption thought. I think the ROTC was put on campuses in the States to keep trouble at a minimum and ensure a quick response to radical ideas. I like the idea that universities are the testing ground for radical ideas and hate the idea of ROTC being on college campuses.

3) American flags being in churches.

Do you know that flag statutes declare that the American flag must take the position of honor above any other flag (including the Christian flag), even in a church? Besides questioning why there is or needs to be a Christian flag, I'm also distraught that the American flag is even placed in a church.

Our allegiance as Christians is to Christ alone. (Why I also don't say the Pledge of Allegiance. gasp.)

4) Saying the Pledge of Allegiance
The "Under God" part of the pledge is the LEAST offensive part of it.

5) The Star Spangled Banner as our national anthem (from the War of 1812). The only worse song might be: This Land is your Land.



Just to let you know I'm not completely unpatriotic, here are a list of my favorite things about the US political system:

1) The Constitution and the Bill of Rights
2) Our founding fathers; flawed but genius (Read the Federalist Papers)
3) Separation of powers (not just Legislature, Executive, and Judicial but also Federal/State separation and structuring state capitals as different from the state's most populous cities).
4) Civic institutions
5) Volunteering