[GCFL-discuss] [GCFL.net] America's Independence Day

[Discussion of the Good, Clean Funnies List]

This joke is not only funny, it is a perfect example of why The Star
Spangled Banner should NOT be sung in church. Yeah, I know, Siarlys can't
take a good joke without looking for some purpose and meaning and making
it all serious.

No, really, its funny. In its funny way, it shows why patriotic songs
don't belong in church.

I remember when I was going through my pre-teen atheist phase, but still
taken to Sunday School by my mother, if there was a chance to REQUEST
what hymn we were going to sing next, a like-minded friend and I had
noticed there were certain patriotic songs like "My country 'Tis of Thee"
toward the back, and we would request those to get OUT of singing more
spiritual numbers. Of course, the Sunday School teacher would smile and
direct everyone to the third or fourth verse, which was all about God.

By the way, just to show atheism has no politics, my parter-in-crime grew
up to be a rabidly conservative Republican. I grew up to be... well, you
know I defy categories, but I didn't turn out like him at all.


One thing about the Fourth of July: it is one of the few holidays we have
left which have NOT been moved to the nearest Monday. I'm waiting for it
to become "The Monday of July." We all know what Memorial Day is about: a
good three day week-end with lots of good food and drink and fun and
games. If we were serious about commemoration, we would stop whatever we
were doing on whatever day in May it originally was and commemorate.
Hasn't Veteran's Day been moved to a Monday too? It should still be
Armistice Day, and it should be observed ON the ELEVENTH, and everything
should come to a stop. I read a woman who was a veteran of the Civil
Rights movement had a similar discussion with her daughter, who views
Martin Luther King's birthday as a chance to sleep late and then go have
some fun. I mean, that's what American holidays are FOR, isn't it? Of
course I almost wonder why at my current job we get holiday pay for MLK
Day, considering nothing really stops and we have the same workload, need
just as many drivers, its just like a normal day.

I've been taking my Little Brother to Civil War re-enactments, and so far
he has trouble understanding secession, let along slavery. The only
reference anyone has made to his color is when kids were choosing up
sides for their own skirmish, and the powder monkey from the SS
Carondolet said "Are you with us? If you're Confederate you're crazy."
Actually, there is an interesting history regarding enlistment of colored
soldiers in the CSA, and I wrote an article about it once, which I could
email from the web site where it is posted if anyone is interested. I
have free access until NOV 2009. I tried to explain secession, and he
said "Isn't that illegal? Won't the police arrest you for that?" Well,
yes, but what if the governor and the legislature are all in on it, and
the police go along, then the president needs an army.

What were we talking about? Oh yes. The Fourth of July. A good day to
read from a Kenneth Roberts novel -- probably the most realistic tales of
the Revolutionary War there are. The good, the bad, the ugly, but somehow
by God we got something good out of it all.

Siarlys
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