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Uuse of the word "patriot"

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shaved  #511742  Fri, 09 May 08 07:27 PM

Anonymous

<To me, someone who protests against illegal immigrant rights is a patriot.>

 HOW IS THAT PATRIOTIC?

 fighting for your nation's soveregnty and risking being labeled a racist (or worse) to accomplish it

sounds like patriotism to me

  
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Anonymous  #511786  Fri, 09 May 08 09:50 PM

<fighting for your nation's soveregnty and risking being labeled a racist (or worse) to accomplish it>

 But how does fighting for illegal immigrants rights threaten the sovereignty of a nation? Are you saying that illegal immigrants should have no rights?

  
Grammar Geek  #511795  Fri, 09 May 08 10:36 PM

You are no longer asking linguistic questions. Shall we move this to controvertial subjects?

  
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MrPedantic  #511834  Fri, 09 May 08 11:42 PM
Anonymous

My question was not limited to the personal definitions of members here. With my question, one can talk about one's personal definition and other definitions that may be at work in one's country. Your question is more limited.



Your question works too:

Speaker A: "In your country, what does it take these days to deserve the label patriot?"
Speaker B: "I suppose a patriot would be someone who {action traditionally associated with patriotism}."
Speaker A: "Oh, I disagree. A true patriot would be someone who {action which it is unusual to associate with patriotism}."

Though now of course speaker A is the ironic party.

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shaved  #511849  Sat, 10 May 08 12:15 AM
Anonymous

<fighting for your nation's soveregnty and risking being labeled a racist (or worse) to accomplish it>

 But how does fighting for illegal immigrants rights threaten the sovereignty of a nation? Are you saying that illegal immigrants should have no rights?

 

I'm only saying that, in America, you won't find a consensus (or even a majority opinion) on what is considered patriotic. 

 

the OP wanted to know what was worthy of being considered a "true patriot" in my country...

I live in the USA, and I honestly think that a person could be considered a true patriot by some while others consider the same person a parriah.

 

Our current President is an example of the point I'm making.  The debate over what to do about illegal immigration is another.

 

Jim Gilcrest (former leader of the anti illegal immigrant rights activist group, The Minute Men) was widely considered a racist and a vigilante traitor in some circles.

But a large number of people believed that the work his group was doing was visionary and exactly what the country needed.

A lot of people, though, didn't really have strong opinions on the issue and, as a result, really didn't feel strongly either way. 

 

The argument I'm making is that "true patriotism" in America is very difficult to define because we are such a fragmented nation when it comes to what our nation's role and priorities should be.  Maybe that's the inherent flaw of complicated, multitiered representative forms of government when paired with a nation that is host to a very culturally and ethnically diverse (and even transient) population.

 .... Or maybe this sentiment isn't uniquely American....

I'd be curious to hear what people in other countries think about this phenomenon (or lack of it) where they live. 

  
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