Editorial
9/11 reawakens patriotism in America
After five years, patriotism is still strong in the American
mind, just displayed in a different way
Monday marked the fifth-year anniversary of the Sept. 11
attacks.
Across the country, people showed their respect and
remembrance through many conventional, ordinary acts of
patriotism, like hanging American flags from their homes or
wearing red, white and blue.
In New York, President Bush attended a memorial ceremony
where police officers hung a flag and a choir sang the
national anthem.
People were participating in the kind of patriotic acts that
seem to most appropriately commemorate the lives lost and the
heroism displayed on that day five years ago.
There is another kind of patriotism, however, that goes
unnoticed in the wake of bold, tear-jerking nationalism and
the echo of the phrase “from sea to shining
sea.”
It is the kind of patriotism that has only recently begun
to
re-emerge in the American public, in the form of war
protests, outspoken complaints and open debates over the
Patriot Act and the stem cell veto.
Although at first, these types of acts may seem more like
dissent and rebellion than helpful, patriotic deeds, they are
in reality the most patriotic actions an American can
demonstrate.
Complaints, disagreements and debates are all extremely
important because they keep a close check on the government
and demand for it to adhere to the wishes of the
people.
Democracy could not function without a caring, informed
citizenry, unafraid to speak its mind and make its country
better.
Our forefathers fought and died for the rights to petition
the government and use free speech.
Exercising these rights is in itself an act of
patriotism.
In the first few years following Sept. 11, what our country
and its leaders needed was our loyalty, faith and unfailing
support.
We needed to rebuild our nation’s confidence and
recover from disaster through hope and optimism.
Today, however, our nation needs us to be active citizens
and well-educated participants in the system of democracy and
free speech that makes America the successful nation that it
is.
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