Are You Proud of Your Country?

snugglebunny

Some people are of the opinion that it doesn't make any sense to be proud of one's nationality because we had nothing to do with where we were born. The decision wasn't ours. They opine that it's ludicrous to be proud of our countries' prior achievements if we had no part in those achievements because we weren't even around then. Basically we are where we are due to accident of birth.

So I was wondering...If that is the case, then should we also have no part in the apologies that are often made because of the misdoings of our forefathers? I look at the UK's record when it comes to such things as slavery or anti-semitism or the colonising of Africa and India and do feel some degree of shame that the country I love once actually did this stuff. But I don't feel any responsibility for it, so I'm disinclined to join in the apology fests.

Confusing isn't it.

scratchme1010

Are You Proud of Your Country?

I'm proud of myself. The JW influence has nothing to do with my opinion about any of my nationalities. I had to learn a lot about it after, but now I can form my own thoughts, stances and opinions.

Also, I abide the law, vote, fight crime, recycle, pay way too many taxes, and do all my civic duties because I am a decent person, not because of my nationality(ies). And what I get in return is the President calling one of my heritages a "shithole country".

What I fight from the WT is the black-and-white mentality that if I'm not "proud" of my country I'm supposed to be some kind of enemy or unworthy of living in it. Fuck that. Right now I feel like I live in a (to borrow a line from somebody) "shithole country", and I am entitled to hate where it's heading. Right now I'm not proud of it.

punkofnice

Not particularly.

I just happened to be born here by accident.

Where I live it's mostly a crap hole. I'd like to move somewhere else but financially it isn't viable right now.

I just don't have any respect what-so-ever for people in authority. However, I believe that I need to be aware of the well being of my fellow man.

LoveUniHateExams

I'm not a 'my country - right or wrong' person. I believe my country (UK, England) should be criticised for the bad things it did and praised for the good.

I look at the UK's record when it comes to such things as slavery or anti-semitism or the colonising of Africa and India and do feel some degree of shame that the country I love once actually did this stuff - not everything the British Empire did abroad was bad. Foreign places that were often tribal were given our criminal and justice system, social infrastructure, roads, sanitation, etc. This was often a vast improvement on what went before.

The British outlawed suttee (sati) in India. When a married man died his wife would burn herself alive on his funeral pyre. This was suttee (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sati_(practice)). How many deaths of married woman has this one ban saved?

And some native peoples actually supported the empire's colonisation of their lands. For instance Sikhs, I think, are pro-empire.

BluesBrother

No, I have never been nationalistic. .. a hangover from JW days I guess but I see no reason to be. The world would be better if we all had a global view and suported the family of mankind.

Simon

It's easy to look at and focus on the negative, especially as there is an industry of people pushing for reparations for anything and everything from serious to stubbed toes.

But you have to take it as a whole. I see slavery for instance as something that spawned the abolitionist movement almost as soon as Britain began to take part in it and resulted in it being deemed wrong and the end of slavery - something that hadn't happened before in history by any ruling empire.

It's also easy to forget what life was like for regular people and what else was going on at the time. Regular citizens weren't exactly 'free and comfy' either - you may have been sent off to fight in napoleonic wars or whatever.

Same for India - some see it as a blight on Britains past because we ruled a foreign country but that's what the world was then. Whatever wrongs were done, there were also many many 'rights' done too - cutting down on centuries of bloody conflicts and mass killings, ends to immolation of widows, education, medicine, transport, democracy - India was transformed into a better country and I challenge anyone to say it was worse when Britain gave it independence than before they ruled it.

But yes, I wasn't involved in any of that, the engineering advances or putting men on the moon either so can I be proud of it or should I be ashamed of the wrongs? I think we can do both but not beat ourselves up over how things were in another age - people pushed the needle of civilization forward and I'm proud that our ancestors ultimately made the world a better place even if others (and sometimes 'they') may have not been as enlightened as we would like by todays standards.

I think we have more to be proud of than some other cultures who for some reason are almost worshipped but who have a far bloodier and shameful past and only accomplishment seems to be banking on drums and wailing. 'We' have taken not just engineering but arts - music, painting, sculpture, writing, poetry etc... to extreme peaks. Cultures aren't equal - the music of Mozart is a pinnacle of accomplishment and the result of so many different disciplines coming together to enable it.

Why should we overlook all the good stuff just because other people didn't have the same spirit of learning and invention?

ttdtt

I am happy to live here, but I don't feel proud.

The list of atrocities committed are often whitewashed or completely erased.

Even things like being responsible for the global recession that happened and went without penalty to those who cause them is not something to be proud of.

But there are not that many countries I would rather live in.

truth_b_known

I have a sense of pride in my country. There are so many beautiful nations with wonderful cultures and lifestyles. There are some that are not so much. I don't hold that against them unless they had a choice in the matter.

I do not appreciate when my own countrymen put our nation down. Especially for things that happened in the past. You cannot judge the past by today's standards.

If persons from other nations put my country down it doesn't bother me so much. Haters are going to hate.

Alex Bogdanov

I am not just proud of my country I am proud of any country that is developing and moving forward. I was born in a country that doesn't exist anymore - USSR. I lived in Latvia. Now I live in UK, Wales. My wife is Welsh. My family/relatives live in - Latvia, Russia, Germany. I feel happy and proud about UK, Larvia and Germany as they are developing. But I feel sad for Russia as its totally lost the plot. I never connected countrie's past with my life. UK is not my motherland, but I feel passionate about it and because its my home I am trying to make it better by helping my neighbours, keeping the street clean and supporting local charities.

AllTimeJeff

You can love your country like a little child loves its parents: They can do no wrong.

Or, you can love your country like a grown up, recognizing it's flaws and working to correct them.

Or, you can change your country. In the United States (for the sake of over generalization) there are two main groups, conservative and liberal, fighting for change according to their respective political philosophies. Obviously, there are many shades of gray in that spectrum.

For my part, my JW experience made it very difficult for me to love any group. I value being my own person and thinking for myself. Group think makes me sick. Yet, we thrive when there is genuine teamwork and mission that we can agree to. For me, it is honestly sort of sad to contemplate.

I don't like it when "love of country" and "patriotism" equals persecution, marginalization of minority groups, and the taking away of rights of others.

Are You Proud of Your Country?

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