Wednesday, August 13, 2003
American Civil Liberties Union challenges Colorado law over Pledge of Allegiance in American schools.
Gov. Bill Owens defended the Pledge of Allegiance as "a treasured and positive civic tradition" and scolded the ACLU as publicity-seeking.
Whereas the old dictum of 'patriotism being the last refuge of the scoundrel' doesn't apply here, and Owens has no mind for his own publicity in speaking out against the ACLU?
I find patriotism a very hard concept to grasp as it seems to come into play to put the needs of one group of people above that of another group, who may well be worse off. Patriotism may be fine of itself, but it seems to easily lead to xenophobia and nationalism, which in turn lead to the dark side of the force and very bad taste in uniforms.
Gov. Bill Owens defended the Pledge of Allegiance as "a treasured and positive civic tradition" and scolded the ACLU as publicity-seeking.
Whereas the old dictum of 'patriotism being the last refuge of the scoundrel' doesn't apply here, and Owens has no mind for his own publicity in speaking out against the ACLU?
I find patriotism a very hard concept to grasp as it seems to come into play to put the needs of one group of people above that of another group, who may well be worse off. Patriotism may be fine of itself, but it seems to easily lead to xenophobia and nationalism, which in turn lead to the dark side of the force and very bad taste in uniforms.
