Someone please explain this to me

[Blue Christmas]

We all know that there are a lot of "patriotic" (and somewhat homicidal) Americans out there who only care about American lives. Thus, the killing of tens of thousands of civilian Iraqis is not only ok, it is "righteous." And the Freepers laugh at the tsunami deaths and only mourn the American casualties. And of course, the old standby: "God Bless America" bumper stickers! (all of which, to me, carry the implied message "and screw everybody else"). And on and on ad nauseum.

But here's what I don't get: I've met some of the people who think this way, and they've been very mean to me - even though I'm an American! They don't like me 'cause I'm a liberal. They don't like me because I'm a pacifist. They don't like me 'cause I'm gay.

"But why don't you like me?" I'll ask them. "I'm an American, you know. And you love America!" But apparently - shockingly - the "land of the free" doesn't have any place for liberals or pacifists or minorities in these peoples' minds, even as they patriotically pound their collective chests with pride - "Freedumb is on the march!" they cry (although they probably don't spell it that way in their minds).

Why don't they realize the contradiction in this? Because it seems to me, the same people who purportedly care about "only Americans" actually despise most Americans!

And if that's so, then shouldn't their bumper stickers be changed to read "God Bless Republican, Pro-War, Anti-Gay America"?

Honestly, I just don't understand the breach in logic that lets them bless "America" but not bless me (and you too, in all likelihood). Can someone please explain this to me?

[dbt]

1. Two words:

Baptist Church.

:freak:
dbt

[Cronus Protagonist]

15. Cognitive Dissonance

Simple as that.




http://brainbuttons.com/home.asp?stashid=13
Buttons for brainy people - educate your local freepers today!

[xray s]

2. since when does hate have to be logical?

[idiosyncratic]

6. That's right. Remember the thread about "Prussian Blue."

Adorable Blonde girls spouting hate

[K-W]

11. Good eugenics?

I take it these monsters replace the word genetics with eugenics?

[illflem]

3. Three letters

KKK

[quispquake]

4. There is no explanation...

There is no sense to hate...

BTW: Welcome to DU :hi:

[whalerider55]

5. don't confuse

nationalism and fundementalism with patrtriotism and spirituality.

the former need a series of victims to blame; and to hold up as the anti-thesis of G-d's moral message.

The latter understands that love of country cannot be seperated from the responsibility of a citizen to be accountable for what their country is doing and make the changes that need to happen to keep it strong and moral. Spirituality is about love, acceptence, tolerence without all those messy constrictions and literal interpreations.

As Alan Watts suggested, Fundementalism is about belief, which is really a narrowing of what you accept as real, or believeable; it only has value if you have a range of things you don't believe in. ANd that is, fundementally, a denial of the possibility that your reality isn't the only one.

Spirituality is about faith- the acceptence of change, of good and bad, human and inhumane, of living in your own skin and using that knowledge to love and be compassionate about others.

Go peacefully, friend. There are literally millions, perhaps billions more people who think along the spiritual lines that I've outlined than the more fundemental ones.

It's just that the fundies tend to have more guns.

whalerider55

[intheflow]

7. In biblical terms...

God has "hardened thier hearts" just like God hardened Pharoah's heart after Moses negotiated for the release of the Hebrew slaves.

In reality, I think it's more likely that as Americans we have never had to develop humility. No one outside our country has ever beat us in a war. (These folks will either tell you Vietnam was a tie, not a real war, or that the soldiers failed because of the peace protests.) With the exception of 9/11, in which camparatively few Americans died compared with wars on foreign soil, and the Civil War (which we are still fighting to some extent), Americans have never really had much to fear. It makes us arrogant. It makes us callused. Our relative prosperity has hardened our hearts.

Or at least hardened the hearts of the Pharoahs and would-be Pharoahs among us.

imo.

[roenyc]

8. Fox News and Rush Limbaugh

and probably the church. but its OK i dont like them either!

damn i really dont like them. most people like me until i start talking politics. then i all of a sudden it happens. i am the devil.

i tried to tell a woman how Clinton was hunted and wrongly accused and the entire then that happened while he was in office. she is like 60 years old. she actually put her hands over her ears and did la la la -- i dont care what you say i dont want to hear it, i still hate him.

i said, oh you dont want to hear the truth! i was so angry. you know what i mean.

There is nothing to explain really. they are close minded. being a liberal is hard work. we read. and we want to know about things. we ask why! you are asking why! see what i mean. we also care. care about our fellow man and have real compassion. its who we are. i dont want to befriend a conservative. i dont want their approval. i will wait for this tide of bullshit to change - and it has to. they can not keep this chip on their shoulder forever.

they make excuses and make up slogans. it gets them through the night along with a Budweiser and bad TV.

its all going to be OK. we just have to turn this tide. back to 1970. we can do it.

[quispquake]

9. Great post!

I think you hit the nail on the head...we THINK...it's so much easier to go through life not thinking (or it must be since so many people obviously do). If you think, the world appears in more than black and white terms which is the antithesis of some people...

[roenyc]

10. Thanks

thinking can be such a pain sometimes. its why many of us have had trouble sleeping since the election and myself - i have been off the wall since the DNC. dont know when i will be normal again.

did any of you see Orwell Rolls Over in his Grave? if you haven't please see it. it will show you what has happened to the media since Ronnie neo-con Reagan took office.

its freighting - and i could remember being a kid watching Walter Cronkite and seeing the Viet Nam war coverage. its all in this documentary - how the coverage has changed.

once you see this movie you can understand how these people (the sheep) have become what they are. they are extremly weak and not very smart. and they bought right into it.

i downloaded it. but you can buy it on line.

[Blue Christmas]

12. thanks for the replies

both the serious and the facetious.

I must say, I wrote the above post with a smidgen of satire, but that doesn't mean this question can't still drive me crazy when I really stop to think about it.

I mean, I'm sure I'm not immune from carrying around some illogical fallacies or ill-thought-through fantasies in my cranium from time to time. But I still can't believe that some people can't see the blatent conflict inherent in "loving America" and hating most Americans!

Another one that gets me is the duality between "Thou shalt not kill" and "Let's bomb the hell out of everyone! I'm the Jesus President!" But we'll save that for another thread... ;-)

Oh well - gotta be away from the computer for awhile. Thanks for the welcome, perkypat! To say I'm glad to be here would be a tremendous understatement. For the last couple of months, DU has done more for me than Big Pharma ever could!

and BTW, my hate seems quite sensible AND logical, thank you very much! Though I'm not much of a "hater," I'm sure some of you out there can relate to (and think of a few sensible, logical reasons for) my extreme distaste and disdain for the Bush regime. The thing that scares me, though, is maybe the hatred of those I wrote about in my initial post seems logical to THEM too... *shudder*

[proud patriot]

13. It's because they are hypocrits or idiots IMO

[mcscajun]

14. Aaron Sorkin had the same problem...

...he had this great line in "The American President":

"How do you have patience for people who claim they love America, but clearly can't stand Americans?"

I don't. I really don't.