i decided yesterday that july 4th is one of my favorite holidays. and not because i’m your average proud-to-be-an-american. most of the time i’m embarrassed to be american. it’s really awkward to be born somewhere and be hated because of it.
i am glad i’m american. but i don’t think being american is better than being other things. i try to stay away from ethnocentrism and thinking that things have to be a certain way. though, i do know that many ideals and habits have been inculcated into my being, never to be separated.
the point of this post is that i love the 4th of july because of it’s nostalgia. the way that it represents summer and family and food and, if i must say, patriotism. there are so many traditions and childhood memories that i (and i think the rest of the country) associate with this day.
nostalgia is a part of life, but i also think americans (and probably many others) have perfected this emotion. it is rampant in our everyday lives, and notably, in the way we feel about the 4th of july.
I have to admit, I completely get what you're saying. I don't know if it's a favorite holiday yet, but I enjoyed getting a little bit into it yesterday, in spite of being so tired all I wanted was sleep…
LOVE the series of jump shots at the bottom of your post. SO fun!
Tahnawannabenostalgic:
TJ, never ever be embarrassed to be an American. You have been blessed by God Almighty Himself to have been born here. You could have been born in Senegal or Thailand and then sold into the slave trade or never have made it out of adolescence alive. You could have been ethnically cleansed in Bosnia or Rwanda or hundreds of other places throughout history. America is the only country left that allows the open expression of faith; a country that gives more to help others than the next 20 countries combined.
America allows for Muslims to build Mosques anywhere they want while the Muslims deny the presence of Christian churches in their own Muslim countries.
America allows for open free speech, even speech opposing elected officials and administrations or anything you dislike. Speech that allows you to stand up boldly for your faith. Speech that allows true haters of America to speak out against America in our own homeleand.
The majority of Americans are not ethnocentric, as are most every other country. America is the most diverse and accepting country in the world. America is the place that most immigrants desire to live. America is a place where anyone can still succeed.
American history has largely been "changed" by revisionists and liberal progressives who rule academia, the media and entertainment today. And they can do such in a construct that is based upon individual freedoms, even if the intent is to spread false propaganda.
I am glad and thankful to be an American, and not because I fancy myself as better than anyone else, but because my very birth in this country comes through the very providence of God Almighty. Yet another blessing for which I am unworthy, but nonetheless the recipient of Grace.
Love, Dad
Tahni – I love the photos at the end, so fun. I also love the 4th of July. I just scrapbooked the photos of us making the glitter shirt.
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And I was going to say something about being American, but Dad basically covered it. When my cousins were in Iraq they were told over and over how great America was.
Both times Mike and I have been to China we were told over and over and over and over (many times with tears in their eyes) that Nadia was so lucky to come to America or they dreamed of coming to America because of all the opportunities that Americans have and how much love they have to give. Or they wished they could come to America so they could have more than one baby.
You should not be embarrassed to be an American. If God had not chosen for you to be born here and only here – you wouldn't have the life you lead now. You wouldn't be married to Joseph and on and on and on 🙂