I'll read these in full tomorrow (only just skimmed it)... I have a book's worth of reading queued up for tomorrow. I'm probably speaking in ignorance here, but when I wrote my original post, I had nationalism instead of white ethnocentrism. I still contend that the whole point of promoting heritage is an effort to indoctrinate others with ethnocentrism and to then use the Founders (the vast majority racist, some even slaveholders) as superhuman authorities who should be trusted in full. Thus, we justify (mostly through cognitive dissonance, or as Kade would call it, willful ignorance) the unethical by claiming our attitude is too narrow-minded. After all, who are we to challenge a great and (might-as-well-be) sacred entity such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, or "Honest" Abe?
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Beware - a rant!) Organizations such as Stormfront regularly quote Founders (
just look at this garbage). They mask their unethical racism with heritage and tradition. Indeed, they are one of the most obvious examples of "willful ignorance" To say that you wave a Confederate flag because you want to celebrate heritage is ridiculous. There are many more symbols or liberty and Anti-Federalism without the known baggage of the Confederate flag. While I'm ranting... Tolerance itself is racist. We tolerate the behaviors of others because they have "baggage" or because they lived in a different time! It's frustrating and contrary to the message of freedom! What is right and wrong ethically does not change over time or based on race. Murder is never acceptable, for example. Slavery is unacceptable (indeed, that does include usury!). Such disrespect should not be TOLERATED in any person, whether white, black, dead, or afflicted by mental retardation!
The celebration; the emotional attachment and faith in something which is not perfect is a trap! To have faith in imperfection is self-hating and will force you to live as hopeless nothing. There is absolutely NO reason to glorify people or collectives which are imperfect! Glorify perfect ideas, promote them, spread them, but to promote imperfection will only result in more imperfection. If you would not promote racism, why would you ever promote a racist?
There may well have been good people in the Revolution, but we must also remember that, at least, some of the American Revolution (almost every war, American or otherwise, really...) was fought with deception (hype/fear-mongering) and the oppression of their own individuals. As just one example, think of the draft in the American Civil War. Neither the Union or Confederacy permitted conscientious objectors to stay out of the war without somehow assisting in the murder of other individuals (originally, the Confederacy did not even permit the exclusion of COs from combat).
History books LOVE to promote ethnocentrism, nationalism and "Patriotism". These very books which glorify our Founders and "heritage" are the same which exclude their REAL history. They wouldn't dare present history objectively, less the State education department strip the company of the privilege to have their textbooks used in schools. Teachers are not permitted to espouse opinions, less they want to be charged with indoctrinating students. I see the very same "liberty-loving" people condemn moral relativism and political correctness while also condemning educators (and educational tools) daring to share their own views with students, whether it be their belief in Christianity or "liberal" views. God forbid someone tell students there is a belief system outside of their parents'. The parents' belief that they are freeing their child(ren) from indoctrination is just more willful ignorance in an attempt to control them for the parents' own selfish desires! The same parents who attack public education as indoctrination, INDOCTRINATE THEIR OWN KIDS!!!
*sighs and shuts up*
