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I don't believe patriotism is ever a bad thing ... what do you think?
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Posted on 11/13/2008 11:02:58 AM PST by Sisku Hanne

I have to write about patriotism for an ethics course, and give a "bad" example of it.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: anothervanity; ethics; patriotism; vanity
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To: Sisku Hanne

I would agree with your distinction between patriotism and hyper-nationalism. I would feature that comparison in your assignment.

H


81 posted on 11/13/2008 1:29:55 PM PST by SnakeDoctor (Keep Austin Quarantined ...)
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To: Sisku Hanne

G.K. Chesterton said, “’My country, right or wrong,’ is a thing that no patriot would think of saying. It is like saying, ‘My mother, drunk or sober.’”


82 posted on 11/13/2008 1:33:29 PM PST by oblomov
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To: Sisku Hanne

When increases in our already confiscatory tax rates are couched by unscrupulous politicians as “patriotic”.


83 posted on 11/13/2008 1:37:21 PM PST by skeeter (Its Barry's fault)
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To: Sisku Hanne

A good bad example would be DemonRats peeing on the country and claiming it’s patriotism. It is obvious that by the very nature of the assignment that the instructor has no ethics.


84 posted on 11/13/2008 1:38:40 PM PST by CyberSpartacus
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To: Sisku Hanne

Nazi Germany. Imperial Japan.


85 posted on 11/13/2008 1:42:40 PM PST by PzLdr ("The Emperor is not as forgiving as I am" - Darth Vader)
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To: Sisku Hanne

I don’t know if German patriotism in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s, or Soviet patriotism from 1917 through 1992 was such a good thing.

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I love America, because it is eminently lovable. IOW, there are very good reasons for being patriotic in America, they are real, and they are irrational, and anyone who is anti-patriotic in America is irrational, or misinformed.


86 posted on 11/13/2008 1:54:18 PM PST by Daveinyork
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To: Sisku Hanne

Think Nazi Germany as patriotism gone bad.


87 posted on 11/13/2008 1:55:47 PM PST by technically right
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To: Sisku Hanne

Two classic examples of “patriotism gone wrong”: Imperial Japan, Germany .....of the 1930’s-mid 1940’s. In each case, whole populations were whipped into a frenzy of bloodlust by pseudo-patriotic propaganda perpetrated by governments with horrific agendas. Delve into those for your paper.


88 posted on 11/13/2008 2:02:49 PM PST by RightOnline
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To: Sisku Hanne
Are you approaching this essay from solely an American perspective?
Can patriotism be wrong or bad? Yes, the former USSR is an excellent example of wielding patriotism for nefarious purposes, as are China, Iran, North Korea and like nations.

History, since the time nations were formed, is replete with malevolent acts done behind the guise of patriotism.

89 posted on 11/13/2008 2:04:57 PM PST by jla (Sarah - True heir of Reagan conservatism)
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To: Sisku Hanne

Patriotism is never a bad thing. However, nationalism can be.

I would write it using examples of excessive nationalism and write in there that that is what you are doing, that patriotism is a good thing.


90 posted on 11/13/2008 2:18:08 PM PST by rwfromkansas ("Carve your name on hearts, not marble." - C.H. Spurgeon)
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To: Sisku Hanne

Supporting the future president is a bad thing.


91 posted on 11/13/2008 2:49:59 PM PST by SFR
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To: Sisku Hanne

You’d have to find a country that wasn’t worth loving, like a brutal dictatorship. Zimbabwe might be a good place to start. Or maybe Turkmenistan.


92 posted on 11/13/2008 3:27:12 PM PST by Ozob
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To: Sisku Hanne

Depends on what country


93 posted on 11/13/2008 3:43:08 PM PST by Outlaw Woman (The light at the end of the tunnel is the headlamp of an oncoming train.)
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To: Sisku Hanne

Sadly, today the words ‘patriotic’ and ‘Christian’ will bring a flurry of 4 letter words from left wing moonbats who claim those two words represent the worst intolerance of other humans in the world—it’s hard to believe that just 50 years ago these were celebrated by the American public. Now, many people are ashamed to stand up and proclaim themselves either one.


94 posted on 11/13/2008 3:43:46 PM PST by pillut48 (CJ in TX --"God help us all, and God help America!!" --my new mantra for the next 4 years)
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To: pillut48
Thank you all for your responses and opinions. I've been working on the paper for the past few hours and began by making my original case that patriotism in itself is not a bad thing. Jingoism and nationalism are. From there I will go into an example of nationalism, but probably something more outside the box than my original choice of Nazism.

Luckily this is a grad course from a Christian University, and I can freely argue my case from more of a Divine Command Theorist perspective, arguing that human relativism & utilitarianism is responsible for morphing virtues such as patriotism into the excesses of nationalism.

95 posted on 11/13/2008 4:22:40 PM PST by Sisku Hanne (The day begins and ends in Alaska.)
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