Quote for the day
"I don’t believe in God. My god is patriotism. Teach a man to be a good citizen and you have solved the problem of life."
Andrew Carnegie
(found via Atheistic View)
posted by Infidel753 at 11:37 AM
03 February 2008
About Me
- Name: Infidel753
- Location: Portland, Oregon, United States
Individualist, pro-technology, pro-democracy, anti-religion. I speak only for myself and not for any ideology, movement, or party. It has been my great good fortune to live my whole life free of "spirituality" of any kind. I believe that evidence and reason are the keys to understanding reality; that technology rather than ideology or politics has been the great liberator of humanity; and that in the long run, human intelligence is the most powerful force in the universe.
Previous Posts
- Best of the Infidel, 2007
- Link roundup for 2 February 2008
- Fear
- And then there were six.....I mean five
- Dang!
- Quote for the day
- The madness of crowds
- The relentless carnage
- Technology as liberator: an example
- South Carolina and identity politics
God doesn't exist
Evolution happened
Global warming is real
Homosexuality is normal
Aging is a curable disease
The election was not stolen
Everything "spiritual" is a lie
US out of UN, UN out of US
Free speech is for everybody
Humans do not have "souls"
Men can't become women
Fetuses are not persons
Words are not violence
Taiwan is a nation
Pluto is a planet
4 Comments:
I find this quote alarming. Blind devotion to anything is always bad.
Sigh. Why do some people think that patriotism in all cases has to be "blind"?
I don't think patriotism has to be blind. I'm not comfortable, however, with the idea that patriotism should be elevated to god-like status. Generally speaking, gods don't take kindly to scrutiny and criticism. Good citizens need to examine their societies, governments, etc., with clear thinking and be willing to change course when they've erred. Gods don't generally like course changes. Clear-headed patriotism is a great value. Clear-headed patriotism precludes worship of the state.
Chaplain, thanks for the clarification. Your first comment actually did sound like you were saying patriotism in general is blind, but I find nothing to disagree with in your second one.
Always remember that patriotism does not at all equate to worship of the government or blind loyalty to it. Some of the best manifestations of patriotism take the form of resistance to one's country's government.
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