Today is the 4th of July. The day we signed the Declaration of Independence and shipped off our official FU to our Fatherland, Britain. It is a big day and we should reflect on the birthday of our country and how it's founding made us the country we are today.
The title of this blog is from an uber-patriotic song that used to annoy the hell out of me. It came out when I was in high school and we were in our first war with Iraq. I had issues with that war, but nothing compared to the issues I had with our Iraq second coming. Yes, Hussein was a madman and a Tyrant, but he was not behind 9/11. But I digress. When I was in high school, I was in a show choir (think of a very pathetic Glee) and we sang that song. Luckily, I was in the back of the choir so not many people could see me getting tired of patriotism really quick, like many of our youngsters today.
Flash forward to May 2011. My husband has gone through the bureaucratic (and not so cheap) hell that is getting a green card and then applying for citizenship. Yes, my hubby is a (legal - in AZ this is important) foreigner, from Britain. He is from the country that we shipped off our FU to 235 years ago. We met through mutual friends while working at the University of Arizona, in the previous century. But, amazingly, he is not bitter! Many Brits are not bitter anymore. It may have something to do with WWI, WWII and being in NATO. Something like that, as long as we show up for the wars, even if we are a bit late.
At his citizenship ceremony, I re-discovered my patriotism and love for our country. During the ceremony, they played “Proud To Be An American” by Lee Greenwood. He had given the rights to the song to the government a few years ago. When I heard the beginning of the song, my first reaction was one from high school: “Aw jeese, not this again.” But they were showing the lyrics and it made me think of what it means to be an American. Freedom.
We don't live in a country that punishes for which religion you believe, or which political party you belong, or which “tribe” you are from. Pundits might do this verbally but our government can not punish these things physically. This last example comes from Zimbabwe, where my Husband lived for 9 years as a child. There being white (because of colonial rule) was not popular, but neither was being in the Matabele tribe when the Shona tribe was the majority in the government. Another example comes from a gentleman at the ceremony who came to the US to go to graduate school, he was happy to have left his country because his being a Christian was a Capitol Offense.
I started to cry during the ceremony. I was rather used to my freedoms, to think we would have to live without them or fight on our soil for them, scares the hell out of me. I know our country is not perfect and am very happy to point these problems out. I have the freedom of speech to be able to do that, without fear of tyranny.
My upcoming book would not do so well in Britain, or other countries, because it is critical of well, many things including the government. Places like Britain have very serious libel laws where people can sue someone for even implying someone is secretly gay or having an affair, or secretly having a gay affair. Our first amendment protects us from these type of lawsuits. That is why Twitter can ignore such lawsuits. My book will still hopefully sell in other countries, but if there is offense, I am grasping onto that 1st Amendment with all my strength and not letting go. Hey, if those d-bags at the Westboro Baptist Church can protest military funerals because of homosexuality due to freedom of speech, I should be able to self-publish my little book.
The Arab spring has been inspiring. Not that change is easy, I think Egypt is having a lot of problems now and everyone is ignoring them because the party is over and now the hard part begins. The people of Libya and Syria (and probably many other places) have it worse, fighting against terrible governments that are holding them down. I pray that they can break free. As a spoiled American, I am glad we are free.
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