What are you doing for the 9-11 Anniversary?

[Spidey-Bat]

It kinda bothers me how they still sing God Bless America at every baseball game. They never used to do that, or at least televise it until they started doing it at the end of the 2001 season. I feel like the only reason they still do it is because it would seem unpatriotic, yet I've always believed that doing something symbolic for too long eventually becomes routine and it loses its meaning.

I know the Mets only do it when the game is on FOX or ESPN. I think the Yankees do it every game though. I don't like it either, just more forced patriotism. I don't even like our national anthem.

 

[roach]

True. Also "Support Our Troops". As if there's a large group of people out there with banners saying "**** our troops!" or something.

as a member of the military before and after 9/11 I can honestly tell you there was a big difference in the way I was treated after 9/11

 

[Darthphere]

as a member of the military before and after 9/11 I can honestly tell you there was a big difference in the way I was treated after 9/11

That's ok but at the same time it wasn't like before 9/11 the whole country was like "Man I hate the troops."

 

[SpideyVille]

I know the Mets only do it when the game is on FOX or ESPN. I think the Yankees do it every game though. I don't like it either, just more forced patriotism. I don't even like our national anthem.

Yeah the Yankees do it every game and aside from a few games this past week, its usually the same god-awful recording. At least they had Miss America or something sing it a few days ago when they played that game in the rain at like 11pm and the stadium was practically empty. I don't mind the national anthem, but it is always cooler in the postseason when they have jets and eagles and stuff flying around.

 

[SuperFerret]

That doesn't mean that there's more support for the troops now. It just means that people are showing it more.

It's like how in school on 9/10/01 we didn't say the pledge of allegiance, but on 9/12/01 onward, we did it everyday. It still annoys me because it's just utter BS posturing.

 

[SpideyVille]

as a member of the military before and after 9/11 I can honestly tell you there was a big difference in the way I was treated after 9/11

Would you say that its been in more overall appreciation like random people thanking you? That's what I've seen, whereas before it was like people were afraid of soldiers in uniform.

 

[SpideyVille]

That doesn't mean that there's more support for the troops now. It just means that people are showing it more.

It's like how in school on 9/10/01 we didn't say the pledge of allegiance, but on 9/12/01 onward, we did it everyday. It still annoys me because it's just utter BS posturing.

This too, just like I said about the GBA thing. It feels forced at times and that makes it lose its meaning.

 

[SuperFerret]

I've never felt that the pledge had any meaning, but I agree with what you're saying.

 

[TheIncredibleSk]

Im not a huge Patriot or anything but I totally totally disagree that the Pledge and the National Anthem have no meaning.

 

[SpideyVille]

I've never felt that the pledge had any meaning, but I agree with what you're saying.

Yeah, I meant it loses the meaning that it is intended to have, which is to evoke some strong sense of patriotism.

Im not a huge Patriot or anything but I totally totally disagree that the Pledge and the National Anthem have no meaning.

I think they have meaning, but its hard for kids to truly understand that when they're young, especially the pledge. But I remember reading about the story behind the national anthem and it was touching, if you try and imagine yourself in that moment witnessing a big moment in the early history of a country fighting for freedom.

 

[bullets]

Should we not say it anymore.

 

[8wid]

Should we not say it anymore.

Maybe not. But the "Under God" part needs to go away. I don't feel my children should be pledging an oath of allegiance to any form of government or nation though. Their individual people not dissidents of a country, nor is any other child. My opinion is that it should be banned for everyone.

 

[TheIncredibleSk]

Your children don't have to say it.

 

[SpideyVille]

Maybe not. But the "Under God" part needs to go away. I don't feel my children should be pledging an oath of allegiance to any form of government or nation though. Their individual people not dissidents of a country, nor is any other child. My opinion is that it should be banned for everyone.

I had to write a paper on this very issue a couple of years back, and I found that my main arguments to keep it in were because I was heavily involved in a church at the time and I felt that any mention of God was necessary. But aside from that, I couldn't really think of anything else.

But like TheIncredibleSk said, you don't have to have your children say it and I think that's what needs to be changed. The idea that it is disrespectful, therefore frowned upon to refuse to partake in such events for whatever reason. We are supposed to promote freedom, which means we can say or not say what we please, yet sometimes you couldn't tell if that were the case.

 

[SuperFerret]

Im not a huge Patriot or anything but I totally totally disagree that the Pledge and the National Anthem have no meaning.

They have meaning, but not to me. I don't place that much importance in where I live.

But we're getting off topic here with that.

 

[Punisher Rising]

I've been watching The History Channel all day with their 9/11 specials. Hard to believe it's been a full decade since.

 

[spideyboy_1111]

Today I went to Best Buy and a Verizon store to check out the Droid Bionic that I want to get. Also got pizza from a place I hadn't been to before and it was quite good, best in the area.

The only 9/11 coverage I watched was the opening of the Met game mostly because it was baseball. Other than that, I just watched Curb and the last 5 minutes of the Jet game. I can't get into 9/11. I was 12 when it happened, but it never really impacted me. I don't remember the world without all the suspicion and high security like we have since. At our school, they didn't make an announcement and there weren't a lot of kids getting pulled out of class, so there was nothing about that day that stood out. All I remember was my sister being hysterically crying and telling me the internet would probably be slow when we got home. I went on and didn't notice, saw an email from my dad saying he was OK (he was no where near it, he worked in Midtown) and had plans to stay in the city with a friend if he couldn't get home. Didn't know what it meant until my mom told me what happened.

My parents are the complete opposite (which is probably the way I am since I'm a natural contrarian). My dad watches EVERYTHING on 9/11, he has a ton of books about it, too. I've seen a documentary here and there, but I couldn't tolerate watching every damn show about it. My mom is really emotional and will cry about anything, so this always gets her going.

It may sound insensitive, but I've been ready to move on from 9/11 for awhile. Just waiting for everyone else to catch up.

I kinda feel the same way, i remember, i wont forget, but... id rather not depress myself by watching it. Id rather just move on with life, and celebrate my friends bday (whos always going to have to live with it, and she deserves to be cheered up), and to go about my daily routine.

 

[spideyboy_1111]

Your children don't have to say it.

no, but if you "pull them out of it" there's always a big hoopla, you're told you're un-american, and your kids are made fun of. that's not exactly right or fair either.

 

[Timstuff]

I had to write a paper on this very issue a couple of years back, and I found that my main arguments to keep it in were because I was heavily involved in a church at the time and I felt that any mention of God was necessary. But aside from that, I couldn't really think of anything else.

But like TheIncredibleSk said, you don't have to have your children say it and I think that's what needs to be changed. The idea that it is disrespectful, therefore frowned upon to refuse to partake in such events for whatever reason. We are supposed to promote freedom, which means we can say or not say what we please, yet sometimes you couldn't tell if that were the case.

My argument for including "under God" is because God is an authority that supersedes the authority of all humans, and if our inalienable rights come from God that means that they are beyond the authority of human beings to take away. That is the precise reason that God was included in the declaration of independence-- it was not to push a religious agenda, because back then it was taken for granted that everyone was Christian anyway. The idea was to say that there is someone with ore authority than a king who our rights and freedom are given to us by.

The acceptance of at least a secular, deistic concept of God as being the basis of our rights does not have to mean that the individual must endorse Yahweh, Allah, the Flying Spaghetti Monster or anything else-- it simply means that you acknowledge that the source of our inalienable rights is an authority that is above humanity. Even if you don't believe that any such being exists, accepting the constitution is to accept that rights are something too big for any human to take away. You don't have to like that our constitution says that our rights are given to us by a deity, but it's necessary to at least accept that that's where our country has decided that our constitution's authority comes from, and not from plain "human decency" (because I think we all can testify from our own viewpoint, it's not hard to find humans who are anything but decent).

BTW, I am a Christian, and even though I believe in the Bible's authority in my own life, I do what I can to make sure not to confuse my religious beliefs with what is actually in our country's laws. I know that there's a lot of stuff in my Bible that people don't want being applied to them through secular law, and there is a lot of stuff that our government does that I do not want representing my religion. Many of our founding fathers were deists, not traditional Christians, and I think it's important for both Christians and non-Christians to acknowledge that deism is what our constitution was framed around. It's not perfect, but the whole point of putting God in the constitution was to admit that no government will ever be perfect.

 

[roach]

That's ok but at the same time it wasn't like before 9/11 the whole country was like "Man I hate the troops."

probably not but I encountered hate in San Diego against me because I was in the military pre 9/11. I used to joke before 9/11 that I would get more respect in foreign countries than I did in my own.

 

[roach]

no, but if you "pull them out of it" there's always a big hoopla, you're told you're un-american, and your kids are made fun of. that's not exactly right or fair either.

I am an old dude but when I was a kid we didnt have to say the under God part

 

[JJJ's Ulcer]

Hey roach, just want to say thanks for your service.

 

[roach]

Thanks...it was the best 11 years of my life so far

Also I think someone asked why the deployed carriers off the coast. Naval strength is tied to the carriers now that there arent anymore battleships. It also increased the number of birds we had hot(ready to launch) at a moments notice.

 

[terry78]

The argument is that we have God on our money but it's not good enough to have in our pledges and songs.

 

[roach]

The argument is that we have God on our money but it's not good enough to have in our pledges and songs.

the reason we have God on our money is because it is our God