Peace and Patriotism
While out shopping, I saw some people on a corner waving huge peace flags and holding signs. They said things like "Bush Lied about WMD" and "Bring Them Home NOW." It was an interesting mix of people-- spreading from age 40 to 70 or so, men and women.
So I stopped to talk. The guy who organized it had lost a brother in Vietnam. He pulled out a picture showing his mother and brother in front of a Christmas tree a few days before he shipped out, and the last time they saw him alive. This guy saw a clear similarity between the two wars. He pointed out how low troop morale is in Iraq, which matches the pointless and seemingly hopeless nature of the engagement.
He offered me a bumper sticker that says "Peace is Patriotic" and shows part of an American flag with the stars replaced by doves. I accepted it, but had to think about his notion that the word "patriotic" should be reclaimed by people who want to be proud of their country because it is doing honorable things like working for peace.
I fully respect his point. But in the end, I just couldn't live with the word "Patriotic." I trimmed it off, so the sticker simply has the flag and says "Peace." Works for me.
(In a lighter moment, I realized that I could trim it to say "Peace is A Riot," but decided that was typical Kim humor that no one else would get. That happens to me a lot, and thankfully I am starting to be able to recognize such instances ahead of time.)
What's wrong with "Patriotic"? It implies a sense of country. For me, that sense is weakening over time. I feel kinship at various times with various groups of humans, from fellow meditators, to athletes, to family, to scientists, and sometimes simply to all of us homo sapiens. But I can find little reason to draw the boundary where the physical border of the US lies. Makes no sense to my brain.
And peace is just such a nicer thing anyway.
So I stopped to talk. The guy who organized it had lost a brother in Vietnam. He pulled out a picture showing his mother and brother in front of a Christmas tree a few days before he shipped out, and the last time they saw him alive. This guy saw a clear similarity between the two wars. He pointed out how low troop morale is in Iraq, which matches the pointless and seemingly hopeless nature of the engagement.
He offered me a bumper sticker that says "Peace is Patriotic" and shows part of an American flag with the stars replaced by doves. I accepted it, but had to think about his notion that the word "patriotic" should be reclaimed by people who want to be proud of their country because it is doing honorable things like working for peace.
I fully respect his point. But in the end, I just couldn't live with the word "Patriotic." I trimmed it off, so the sticker simply has the flag and says "Peace." Works for me.
(In a lighter moment, I realized that I could trim it to say "Peace is A Riot," but decided that was typical Kim humor that no one else would get. That happens to me a lot, and thankfully I am starting to be able to recognize such instances ahead of time.)
What's wrong with "Patriotic"? It implies a sense of country. For me, that sense is weakening over time. I feel kinship at various times with various groups of humans, from fellow meditators, to athletes, to family, to scientists, and sometimes simply to all of us homo sapiens. But I can find little reason to draw the boundary where the physical border of the US lies. Makes no sense to my brain.
And peace is just such a nicer thing anyway.
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